Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday he’s proud of his near-perfect voting record — a knock on his colleague and Republican presidential rival Sen. Marco Rubio.
The Kentucky Republican was asked about a Florida newspaper editorial calling on Rubio to resign over his poor voting record by CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”
“I take my voting record very, very seriously, and I’ve made 99% of the votes,” Paul said, without explicitly criticizing Rubio’s record.
Analysts have found the Florida Republican has missed the most votes this year of any of the senators running for president. Rubio has defended himself, noting that he’s not on “vacation” but running for president and has cast ballots for the important votes.
According to a USA Today analysis last month, Rubio has missed 60% of votes since June 1, while Paul has only missed 1%.
“I’m going to continue showing up because, you’re right, I do get paid by the taxpayer,” Paul said. “I wear it as a badge of honor that I’ve missed very, very few votes.”
Paul did miss a Tuesday vote in the Senate on a cybersecurity bill he has previously opposed for a campaign event in Nevada. All the candidates taking part in Wednesday night’s Republican debate in Colorado were not present for the vote.
Earlier on Wednesday in Colorado, Paul took a shot at GOP front-runner Donald Trump, who has repeatedly mocked Paul and called for him to leave the race due to his low standing in the polls.
“I think maybe he should get out of the race,” Paul told reporters, citing recent polls that show Ben Carson leading the real estate mogul.
