Rand Paul: Republican U.S. Senator from Kentucky and ophthalmologist, son of Ron Paul, known for libertarian views and for publicly grilling Anthony Fauci over COVID policy. Author of the books 'Deception: The Great Coverup' and 'The Case Against Socialism.'
What this episode covers
Paul recaps his pandemic-era clashes with Anthony Fauci, arguing that natural immunity was dismissed, cloth masks were useless or harmful, six-foot distancing was 'made up,' and that the COVID vaccine is malpractice for children. The conversation broadens into a libertarian critique of government: the federal hemp/THC ban driven by Mitch McConnell, the Federal Reserve paying interest to big banks, and his 'penny plan' to balance the budget by cutting everything a few percent. They debate Venezuela regime change and the boat strikes, immigration and sanctuary cities, ICE agents wearing masks, and large-scale welfare fraud in Minnesota's Somali community. The episode closes on automation and AI, with Paul arguing history shows automation always creates more jobs and that work itself is a reward.
The guest's own work
Deception: The Great Coverup
Rand Paul
“so here's your book, Deception, the Great Coverup. You were uh a lone voice of reason during the pandemic”— Joe Rogan
Deception: The Great Coverup
Rand Paul
“Turns out, and we we mentioned this in the book, the best treatment when you were just about to go on the ventilator”— Rand Paul
The Case Against Socialism
Rand Paul
“I wrote another book called The Case Against Socialism. I think the socialism historically there's been a link between socialism and state sponsored violence”— Rand Paul
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Blind Spots
Marty Makary
“He wrote a book. He wrote a book called Blind Spots. And in it, he writes about the peanut allergy”— Rand Paul
Hidden War
John Nores
“he's got a great book called Hidden War and his his organization became essentially a tactical group”— Joe Rogan
Coming Apart
Charles Murray
“There was a book written by Charles Murray years ago called Coming Apart and it it compared people”— Rand Paul
Captain Phillips
Paul Greengrass
“this is that's the movie with Tom Hanks. Look at me, I'm the captain now, right? That's Somalia”— Joe Rogan
Reefer Madness
Louis J. Gasnier
“they all watched Reefer Madness in 1937 at the matinea and they'll never forget what happens if you get that Reefer Madness”— Rand Paul
Tesla
Tesla
“like Tesla started with more expensive cars at a high price, they're coming down, but they only come down because rich people bought them first”— Rand Paul
Big reveals from this episode
- Paul says the best severe-COVID treatment was cheap generic IV steroids (a 36% reduction in ICU death) that Fauci dismissed early on.
- Says he has sent multiple criminal referrals on Fauci for lying to Congress and destroying records, with evidence Fauci told Francis Collins to 'read this and destroy it.'
- Reveals Fauci testified that vaccine-committee scientists legally don't have to disclose pharma royalties, which Paul is still trying to change.
- Says the federal hemp/THC ban, pushed by Mitch McConnell, will wipe out a roughly $2 billion industry within a year.
- Claims big New York banks collected $187 billion in Fed interest on reserves last year, money that previously offset the national debt.
- Calls the U.S. strikes on Venezuelan drug boats a 'pretense' for regime change, noting two shipwreck survivors were killed.
- Admits 'some of the best Americans just got here,' breaking with his party to back a no-welfare, no-citizenship work program for illegal immigrants.
- Predicts that if AI eliminates work, people will form secret 'speakeasies' to do manual labor in defiance of the government.
Worth remembering
- A 102-year-old woman still tested positive for Spanish flu antibodies 100+ years after surviving it as a six-month-old.
- George Washington had survived smallpox at age 15 in Barbados, so he was inoculated by immunity, not by the vaccine he required of his troops.
- Paul says myocarditis risk rises with each successive COVID shot, the opposite of how childhood vaccination is presented.
- The 'Reefer Madness' scare was driven by William Randolph Hearst protecting his paper/timber interests from hemp competition.
- Cites economist Joseph Schumpeter: capitalism's miracle is not that the queen can buy silk stockings but that the factory girl can.
- In 1820, 98% of people lived on under $2/day; today fewer than 10% worldwide do.
- Reports TSA flagged roughly $700 million in declared cash leaving Minneapolis-St. Paul over two years, allegedly sent to Somalia.
- Paul bets 80% of people here illegally would accept permanent work status with no path to citizenship for themselves.
- After leaving government, Fauci received 24/7 limo service, security, and a presidential medal, which Paul says should never have happened.