Sen. Rand Paul to Newsmax: Govt Won't Save Conservatives From Big Tech

As a libertarian, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Newsmax hailed his boycott of YouTube due to ''censorship'' and warned his conservative followers to stop relying on government to save them from Big Tech stifling their speech and ideas.

''What I'm tired of is conservatives complaining about it saying, 'oh, well, the government's going to fix this,''' Paul told Wednesday's ''Eric Bolling: The Balance.'' ''Why don't we quit? Why do we keep going back? Are we such masochists? Why do we let YouTube rule our lives? Tell him to take a hike.''

Paul wrote Monday that his New Year's resolution was to permanently leave YouTube in protest of what he called censorship of conservative speech, silencing debate and the sharing of ideas, declaring that his relationship with YouTube is ''dysfunctional.''

''If all of the Newsmax listeners quit using YouTube tomorrow, you know what, they might actually see something,'' Paul told host Eric Bolling. ''If everybody just quit and say we're not going to do it anymore — you know what, you might actually see a difference in YouTube's policy if people quit using them and went someplace else.''

Paul's call to action includes hailing Rumble as a freedom-of-speech platform, along with Libertytree.com, his own website. Ultimately, he hopes to permanently leave Twitter and other social media sites that he sees as hostile to free speech.

''My goal is to be rid of all of them,'' Paul added. ''I don't want to associate with people who think they're better than me, who think they're better than my supporters. These are the people who think that we're deplorable. These are the people that think we don't deserve to be treated for COVID. These are the people who glorify if they see someone dying that's a conservative.

''I don't want to be associated with these people. My timeline for when I get rid of all of this is I have to have a viable place where I can broadcast my ideas. Libertytree.com is one place where I'll post my ideas, also on Rumble, also on Newsmax or whoever will interview me. There are ways to get the message out.''

Paul said that his YouTube departure was hastened by the video platform taking down his Senate floor speech, which he said is protected by the Constitution.

''I think they are the worst,'' Paul said of starting his movement by leaving YouTube first. ''You know, they've taken down a speech I gave from the Senate floor. You know, the Constitution actually protects what I say on the Senate floor.

''And yet YouTube thought they knew better than the Constitution, better than our Founding Fathers, that they would decide that, 'hm, really, it's not appropriate that I be allowed to say these things, and so YouTube took it down.'''

Paul also told Bolling he visited YouTube headquarters in California in person, where he said he called the platform's representatives ''obnoxious and arrogant.''

''I actually talked to them in person, talked to them in California, and told them what an obnoxious and arrogant and galling attitude [that] is, that they think they can tell me what is important and what's not important — what I can and cannot say,'' Paul continued. ''And so I object to that.''

He also denounced YouTube's ''arrogance'' for boasting that the First Amendment does not apply to them as an internet platform under Section 132 protections in U.S. law.

''You saw that quote from the CEO of Twitter: 'The First Amendment doesn't apply to us,'' Paul said. ''Well, yeah, but doesn't make it any less arrogant.''

YouTube representatives hailed themselves as being able to ''to determine what you think is good speech and what's bad speech,'' Paul said.

''It still doesn't make it any less obnoxious and really, I just don't want to associate with closed-minded people who are afraid of ideas. Why would any of us want to do [that]? Why should we give them free content?''

The answer is not government involvement in this issue, nor are ''more lawsuits the answer,'' Paul concluded, calling for U.S. citizens to stand up to Big Tech.

''People have to decide if they want to go where they get bullied by people who despise us and look down their nose at us, they can go play with YouTube, but if they want to go to a place that is objective and neutral, Rumble doesn't edit you whether you're from the right or from the left,'' Paul said.

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