{"id":441677,"date":"2026-05-14T17:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/441677\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T17:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:12:19","slug":"us-senator-rand-pauls-son-accosts-ny-congressman-with-drunken-antisemitic-tirade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/441677\/","title":{"rendered":"US Senator Rand Paul\u2019s son accosts NY congressman with drunken antisemitic tirade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The son of US Senator Rand Paul accosted Congressman Mike Lawler on Tuesday with antisemitic and homophobic invective, calling Jews \u201cun-American\u201d and more loyal to Israel than the US, according to Lawler and a reporter who was present.<\/p>\n<p>William Paul apologized for the incident, writing on X Wednesday: \u201cLast night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don\u2019t represent who I really am. I\u2019m sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem.\u201d His father has not commented on the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler, whose district covers a heavily Jewish suburban New York area, is an outspoken supporter of Israel and opponent of antisemitism, but is not Jewish himself. Both he and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, are Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>In an exchange at a Washington, DC, bar that was witnessed by Reese Gorman, a reporter for the NOTUS website, Rand Paul\u2019s son William approached Lawler and \u2013 after introducing himself as the senator\u2019s son \u2013 said Lawler\u2019s \u201cpeople\u201d would be to blame if the younger Paul\u2019s favored candidate, Rep. Thomas Massie, were to lose in a Kentucky congressional primary.<\/p>\n<p>When Lawler responded, \u201cMy people?\u201d Paul responded, \u201cYeah, you Jews,\u201d according to Gorman.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lawler, who is not Jewish, clarified that he is Irish, Italian and Catholic, he recalled during a press availability tweeted by a reporter from CourthouseNews. \u201cAnd he goes, \u2018Oh! Oh, I\u2019m sorry to accuse you of that\u2019,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BenjaminSWeiss\/status\/2054653519731278114?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lawler added<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Rand Paul&#8217;s son erupts in drunken tirade against &#8216;gays and the Jews&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6TFinDZmrA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/6TFinDZmrA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SHji1IeDBm\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/SHji1IeDBm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 New York Post (@nypost) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nypost\/status\/2054636389614899599?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">May 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut he then went on a roughly 10-minute diatribe about Israel, about Jews, about [GOP megadonor] Paul Singer and accusing Jews of being responsible for so many things, playing right into the typical antisemitic tropes that so many people rely on,\u201d Lawler recalled.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt one point, he said that he hates Jews and hates gays and doesn\u2019t care if they die,\u201d Lawler said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s f\u2014ing disgusting. So, you know, the conversation shortly thereafter ended, he gave me the middle finger and then tripped on his way out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Lawler told Paul he was being antisemitic, the senator\u2019s son reportedly responded that the congressman \u201cneeds to watch more Tucker Carlson.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Incident comes amid antisemitic pro-Massie ad blitz<\/p>\n<p>The incident came days after a TV spot from a pro-Massie PAC began running this week, in which Singer is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/jewish-republican-paul-singer-tarred-with-rainbow-star-of-david-in-kentucky-primary-ad\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">depicted with a Pride flag-patterned Star of David<\/a> next to his head. The ad called Singer a \u201cmajor pro-gay, pro-trans activist who works with far-left, hardcore Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Singer, who is Jewish and vocally pro-Israel, is a Republican and a major donor to Republican candidates and conservative causes. His son is gay, and he is a longtime supporter of gay rights.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-11-26-Massie-Ad-Paul-Singer.jpeg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3822874\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-11-26-Massie-Ad-Paul-Singer-640x400.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tIn a new ad for the reelection of Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a rainbow Star of David is prominently featured behind Republican activist investor Paul Singer, who is Jewish. (Screenshot via YouTube\/JTA)<\/p>\n<p>William Paul\u2019s father Rand is Kentucky\u2019s junior senator. A Republican who has run for president, Rand Paul announced his endorsement of Massie in October.<\/p>\n<p>Massie, the Kentucky incumbent, is one of the most anti-Israel Republicans in Congress, having criticized US support for Israel and voted against a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He has also drawn allegations of antisemitism for comments unrelated to Israel, such as when he compared COVID-19 measures to the Holocaust in a 2021 Twitter post.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled.jpeg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3823210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-640x400.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tLeft: US Senator Rand Paul on March 26, 2026; Right: Rep. Thomas Massie on April 29, 2026; Both photos at the Capitol in Washington, by AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite<\/p>\n<p>The Kentucky Jewish Council, which advocates against antisemitism in the state, issued a statement denouncing Tuesday\u2019s incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deeply disturbed both by the antisemitic conspiracy theories posited by Mr. Paul and with his comfort in harassing someone he thought was Jewish in a public place,\u201d the group said. \u201cWe regret that Congressman Lawler had to experience the kind of abuse far too many American Jews suffer on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The altercation between Paul and Lawler was not the first time in recent months that a public figure who is not Jewish was the target of an antisemitic attack. 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Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The son of US Senator Rand Paul accosted Congressman Mike Lawler on Tuesday with antisemitic and homophobic invective,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,200141,85,46,206941,19414,206468,43,206940,26123,44185,86761,11916,197011],"class_list":["post-441677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-antisemitism","tag-antisemitism-in-the-us","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jewish-republicans","tag-kentucky","tag-mike-lawler","tag-news","tag-paul-singer","tag-rand-paul","tag-republicans","tag-thomas-massie","tag-tucker-carlson","tag-us-congress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}