Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) fired back Sunday against accusations that he plagiarized portions of his speeches from Wikipedia articles, musing "if dueling were legal in Kentucky" he could "challenge" the charges.
Last week, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow pointed out that parts of a speech Paul gave in support of Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for Virginia governor, had been lifted from the Wikipedia page for the film "Gattaca." BuzzFeed also found that another set of Paul remarks had borrowed from the Wikipedia entry for "Stand and Deliver."
In an appearance on ABC's "This Week," Paul dismissed the claims.
"Yes, there are times when [speeches] have been sloppy or not correct or we've made an error," Paul said. "But the difference is, I take it as an insult and I will not lie down and say people can call me dishonest, misleading or misrepresenting. I have never intentionally done so."
He continued, "And like I say, if, you know, if dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up, you know, it would be a duel challenge. But I can't do that, because I can't hold office in Kentucky then."
Paul initially addressed the claims last week, admitting that he "borrowed" from the films in question but insisting that he "gave credit."
"The rest of it's making a mountain out of a molehill from people I think basically who are political enemies and have an ax to grind," Paul said in an interview with Fusion. "This is really about information and attacks coming from haters. The person who's leading this attack -- she's been spreading hate on me for about three years now."
Before You Go
