Rand Paul to Deliver 'Tea Party Response' to State of the Union
President Obama will once again face two rebuttals, after his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will deliver the "tea party response" to Obama from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night. Following in the footsteps of Rep. Michele Bachmann (2011) and Herman Cain (2012), who delivered the last two alternative State-of-the-Union responses, Paul's speech will be staged by the national tea-party election group Tea Party Express, the same group that sponsored the 2011 and 2012 rebuttals.
Sen. Marco Rubio will deliver the official Republican Party response.
"We are excited to have Senator Paul deliver the 3rd Tea Party State of the Union response next week. Americans are fed up with Washington politics that fail to address America's fiscal woes," Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer said in a prepared announcement sent to reporters. "We are happy to see that the Republicans have selected Tea Party conservative Senator Marco Rubio to deliver their response. Both Senator Rubio and Senator Paul will articulate pro-growth messages that will resonate with the American people."
Paul's office confirmed he will deliver the speech. Logistics are still being worked out, according to a spokeswoman, but the speech will not overlap with Rubio's.
Both Paul and Rubio have been mentioned as possible Republican candidates for president in 2016.