Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul says that he opposes developing plans for a mosque to be built in close proximity to "Ground Zero" in New York City.
The Tea Party-backed hopeful shared his take on the matter in an interview with Kentucky-based station WBKO on Monday.
According to the local outlet, Paul signaled his belief that members of the Muslim community would better off to make donations to the memorial site rather than construct a religious center close to where the World Trade Center towers stood prior to September 11, 2001.
During the sit down, the Senate hopeful also reportedly reiterated his skepticism of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born in the country.
"We shouldn't provide an easy route to citizenship," explained Paul earlier this summer.
"I think we need to fight that out in the courts," he said. "If we lose, then I think we should amend the Constitution because I don't think the 14th amendment was meant to apply to illegal aliens. It was meant to apply to the children of slaves."
Despite expressing contentious positions during the interview with WBKO, Paul attempted to stay on message. He underscored, "I think the number one issue is the debt."
The conservative contender addressed the economic issue head-on at an event attended by Tea Party activists in Campbellsville, Ky. on Monday night.
The AP reports on what Paul had to say in criticizing federal payrolls as a sign of excess government spending:
Paul told about 20 tea party activists Monday evening in Campbellsville that the average federal worker makes $120,000 a year twice the salary of the average private worker. He said that bringing federal salaries in line with the private sector would save the government an estimated $47 billion a year.
Paul also took a poke at government workers in his speech, using a small business operator from London who has 56 workers as an example. Paul said that if the government took over his business, the 56 workers would complain they're having to work too hard and would want to hire more people so everyone could work less.
The Kentucky hopeful told WBKO he doesn't "think the traditional politicians are ever going to fix" the economic issues pervading the country.
"I bring a new perspective to things, and I'll force them to do things like balance a budget," explained Paul. "I see the future of Kentucky as being private jobs, where as the other side thinks we need more money in Washington. More people digging ditches and doing things like that."
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