WASHINGTON
Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday officially announced his candidacy for U.S. president in 2016.
"I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government," the Republican wrote on his website before he addressed supporters in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
"We have come to take our country back,” he told the crowd. "The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped.”
Freedom and prosperity in the U.S. "can only be achieved if we defend against enemies who are dead-set on attacking America," he said.
Paul named the enemy as "radical Islam" and promised to do "what ever it takes to defend America from these haters of mankind," while also vowing that "not one penny more” will go “to to these haters of America."
Despite his tough talk, Paul said his foreign policy approach prefers negotiation rather than war.
Turning to domestic issues, he vowed to bridge the economic gap in the U.S. between rich and poor, blaming federal policies on fueling the disparities. "Trillion dollar government stimulus packages have only widened the income gap," he said.
"Politically connected cronies get taxpayer dollars by the hundreds of millions, and poor families across America continue to suffer."
As the one-term senator embarks on a campaign to build support for his run, he is expected to find his strongest support in his home state, but is expected to hold rallies around the country in the next few days, including New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
Paul is often seen as an anti-establishment Republican because of his sometimes open criticism of the party and its members.
Along with 47 Senate Republicans, Paul signed an open letter to Iran’s leaders saying that any nuclear deal could be revoked by Congress.
Prior to that, he voiced his support for diplomacy in negotiating with Iran, breaking with fellow Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. "Are you ready to send ground troops into Iran? Are you ready to bomb them? Are you ready to send in 100,000 troops? I'm a big fan of diplomatic options as long as we can," he said during a presidential forum in January.
He criticized fellow Republicans who advocated a military response to the crisis in the Ukraine and said Sen. Rubio was “an isolationist” for his rebuke of President Barack Obama’s attempt at rapprochement with Cuba.
Paul is the second Republican to declare his candidacy for president. Sen. Cruz from Texas announced his intention last month.
Paul, an eye doctor, previously worked at clinics in southwest Kentucky. He began his political career in 1984 by helping his father, former congressman and two-time Republican presidential candidate, Rob Paul, run for Senate.
