Republican senator Rand Paul walked out of a live interview with the Guardian on Friday, in the third testy exchange he has had with a journalist since launching his campaign for president three days ago.
Paul, who said during his campaign launch on Tuesday he would like to see “any law that disproportionately incarcerates people of color is repealed”, responded awkwardly when asked which specific piece of legislation he would repeal.
In a live broadcast via the smartphone app Periscope, Paul said he had “a host of bills” that would amend or repeal part of the statute.
Midway through his answer, he added: “Let me answer the question, you complain I don’t answer the question … I am giving you the specifics.”
Paul spoke about the various pieces of bipartisan legislation he has brought to reform the criminal justice system, but did not point to a specific criminal law that he would repeal.
In his final question, he was asked about research showing that white Republicans do not agree with his view that the criminal law is applied in an unequal fashion.
David Gergen, a journalist who served as a White House advisor to Republican and Democratic presidents,...
