Rand Paul said Wednesday he’s been assured by Sheldon Adelson that the casino titan and mega GOP donor is not trying to thwart Paul’s presidential aspirations.
On the radio program “Jewish Moments in the Morning,” the senator from Kentucky said he met with Adelson and his wife on Capitol Hill Tuesday when Adelson was in town to hear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak to Congress.
The meeting came after The New York Times reported Adelson had told associates that he’s open to spending against Paul in the primary because of the libertarian-leaning senator’s less-than-hawkish views on foreign policy.
“That’s another thing where people spread mistruth,” Paul said in the interview. “I sat down with he and his wife yesterday and they assured me there was no truth to that. That was somebody spreading falsehoods, and we have good relations and we had a great, very informative discussion.”
An aide said that Paul and Adelson have met before in passing but this meeting was previously arranged. The aide wouldn’t say how long the meeting lasted.
In the radio interview, Paul said he and Adelson also talked about his “Stand with Israel” legislation, which calls for ending foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority until it recognizes the state of Israel.
He also argued that the Jewish vote could become more Republican over time in part because of tense relations between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.
“I think that should send a message to a lot of American Jewry that really the time to think about who supports Israel is now,” he said.
A spokesman for Adelson did not immediately return a request for comment by CNN.