Rand Paul is pointing the finger at a 1980s pop star, who he believes inspired someone to send a mysterious package to his Kentucky home. That’s quite a sentence, and certainly, no one should condone violence; and Paul has already been the victim of violence outside his home, way back in 2017 when a neighbor attacked him and broke six of the senator’s ribs in what appeared to be some sort of curb-appeal dispute. Four years later, Paul is calling out Richard Marx (the 1980s crooner with hits including “Right Here Waiting” and “Don’t Mean Nothing”) after a package containing white powder arrived at his Bowling Green residence.
The accusation, of course, has to do with Twitter, as do many feuds these days. It must also be mentioned that Rand Paul has put himself forth as a polarizing figure during this pandemic, and this week, the physician-senator declared that he won’t be taking the COVID vaccine because he caught the virus. That’s a stance that other medical professionals are warning is both wrong and dangerous. This may or may not have anything to do with the suspicious package, and this is all a muddled mess, during which Marx tweeted, “If I ever meet Rand Paul’s neighbor I’m going to hug him and buy him as many drinks as he can consume.”
https://twitter.com/richardmarx/status/1396519422043385863
That tweet isn’t in great taste, obviously. And then there’s Fox News’ report that the suspicious package contained a threat (“I’ll finish what your neighbor started, you m*therf*cker”) while referencing (in an illustration) the aforementioned 2017 attack. Well, Paul’s statement (as revealed by Washington Post) singled out Marx’s tweet: “Richard Marx called for violence against me and now we receive this powder filled letter.”
In response, Marx sarcastically wrote on Twitter (in response to a Rand Paul supporter who came for him), “Yeah… I’m the only person on Twitter who’s ever referenced Rand Paul’s neighbor. Must have been me. This was also a day after that traitor made a public showing of refusing the vaccine.” Marx also tweeted a link to an article about Rand Paul testing COVID-positive last year after hanging out at the Senate gym and attending luncheons: “You know who actually put multiple people’s lives at potential risk?”
You know who actually put multiple people’s lives at potential risk? https://t.co/WyxuTka0Iz
— Richard Marx (@richardmarx) May 25, 2021
Marx has continued tweeting while referring to hardcore Trump fans as the “nameless, faceless, gutless” and the “ultimate snowflakes.” Paul was one of several Republican senators who publicly opposed the second impeachment effort against Donald Trump following the January 6 insurrection. And there are no winners here.