Rep. Peter King: Paul’s scare tactics appeal to the lowest common denominator

Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), a senior Republican member on the House Homeland Security Committee, blasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) Sunday for using scare tactics in his opposition of national security programs.

{mosads}King launched his salvo a day after Paul won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in a landslide.

“The concerns that I have are still there. I mean, here’s a person who said we’re more concerned about the CIA killing Americans with drones as they’re having coffee in Starbucks,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview.

Paul pressed Attorney General Eric Holder last year to rule out the possibility of armed drones killing U.S. citizens on American soil.

Earlier this year, Paul said James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, and Edward Snowden, who has been charged with espionage for leaking security secrets, should share a jail cell.

“This, to me, is scaring Americans. Our real enemy is al Qaeda,” said King.

Last month, Paul warned the administration and members of Congress not to antagonize Russia in the midst of escalating tensions over Ukraine and its ties to Europe.

“Some on our side are so stuck in the Cold War era that they want to tweak Russia all the time, and I don’t think that is a good idea,” Paul told The Washington Post last month.

King criticized Paul for enticing the nation to adopt a naïve foreign policy agenda.

“When I say he’s appealing to the lowest common denominator, what he’s doing, he’s trying to somehow tell Americans we can retreat from the world,” King said.

“The fact is, nothing can make the world more dangerous than if America did retreat, go back into isolationism,” he added.