Sen. Rand Paul says he is still very much running for president — and he has the “dumbass” evidence to prove it.
The Kentucky Republican spent Tuesday broadcasting his entire day of campaigning online, including some time outside a Culver’s in Iowa that he spent reading mean tweets and answering questions his staff prepared for him.
One of the top most Googled questions, Paul read, was whether he was still running for president.
“I don’t know, I wouldn’t be doing this dumbass livestreaming if I weren’t,” Paul said in the video. “Yes, I’m running for president. Get over it.”
A moment later, after reading the next question, Paul looked back up at the camera and added: “We can’t edit this, right?”
His staffer filming the video can be heard stifling laughter.
The campaign sought to make hay of the attention on the one-liner on Wednesday, selling a t-shirt in the campaign store that reads, “I watched Rand Paul’s livestream and all I got was this dumbass teeshirt.”
Paul has faced increased speculation about his longevity in the race after disappointing poll numbers and difficulty breaking out of the pack. That has been exacerbated by front-runner Donald Trump’s continued harping on Paul and predictions that the senator will be the next to drop out of the race.
During a segment of his daylong stream, Paul read mean tweets, including one about his hair, and answered the top questions posed about him, including his height, age and how he’s doing in the polls.
“I’m still kicking Hillary Clinton’s butt,” he said, saying his polls show him leading her in five states President Barack Obama previously won.
He added he’s “easily the most libertarian in the race” in a response to a question about his libertarian cred and answered why he’s the best candidate.
“I have the best hair, and everybody must be jealous of it with all the insults,” he quipped.
The livestream took place the same day as the first Democratic debate, which drew most of the media’s attention.
The campaign did not yet have numbers of how many tuned in on Wednesday afternoon.