Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) mocked his own livestream of an entire day campaigning in Iowa during its broadcast Tuesday.
“The third most popular question on Google is, ‘Is Rand Paul still running for president?” he said while reading Google trending topics about himself during the marathon event.
{mosads}“I don’t know — I wouldn’t be doing this dumbass livestream if I weren’t,” Paul retorted. “Yes, I still am running for president — get over it.”
Paul then joked about his livestream recording his remarks as a permanent record for history.
“This is not live [and] we can edit this, right?” he asked after reading off another question about his current polling numbers.
Paul began broadcasting his daylong trek through Iowa Tuesday morning and continued filming into the night.
He repeatedly poked fun at the concept during his daylong trek through the Hawkeye State.
“I wish I knew,” Paul said when asked why he was participating in the livestream, according to Business Insider.
“I’ve been saying, ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this,’” he quipped. “And now we’re doing this.”
“They also tell me, because I’m just doing what I’m told, riding around Iowa looking at cornfields and answering silly questions, that I’m supposed to answer the top Googled tweets about me,” Paul said of his campaign staff.
“I guess you could call it fun, but I wouldn’t call it fun,” he added of the experience. “I’m sure I’ve said four or five things I wouldn’t say on TV. But I’ve had fun with it.”
A spokesman for Paul’s campaign said on Wednesday that the lawmaker’s comments are meant as light-hearted jests.
“Context is important, and Senator Paul was reading mean tweets when the comment came up,” said spokesman Sergio Gor. “Most media outlets realize he was being playful.”
Paul’s campaign is also capitalizing on the Kentucky senator’s one-liner with a new t-shirt in its official store.
“I watched Rand Paul’s livestream and all I got was this dumbass teeshirt,” the clothing reads.
“Rand Paul broke new barriers when he livestreamed an entire day of his campaign,” says the product description for the $20 shirt. “Now you can get the t-shirt. It’s like going on vacation with your parents.”
Paul’s remarks come as he fights for attention in one of the most crowded GOP presidential fields in recent memory. He currently ranks ninth out of 15 candidates with 2.7 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.
The Kentucky lawmaker has steadfastly denied that he is exiting the 2016 race despite his present standing in the polls.
This story was updated at 1:22 p.m.