Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy Meets with Rand Paul
Rancher Cliven Bundy, the tax scofflaw whose defiance of a federal court order invigorated the antigovernment movement last year, is becoming something of a political asset.
On Monday, Bundy met with Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul during a campaign swing through Nevada. The two met in Mesquite during a “Stand with Rand” question-and-answer session, where Paul discussed public land rights with Bundy and 50 other potential supporters and activists, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
After the Q-and-A session, Paul’s aids found a private room where the presidential candidate met privately with Bundy, his wife and one of his sons for 45 minutes, according to a report in Politico.
“I think almost all land use issues and animal issues, endangered species issues, ought to be handled at the state level,” Rand told the Associated Press. “I think that the government shouldn’t interfere with state decisions, so if a state decides to have medical marijuana or something like that, it should be respected as a state decision.”
After the political rally, Bundy –– not so surprisingly –– told the AP he supported Paul’s position that the federal government should turn over ownership of its public lands to the states.
“In general, I think we're in tune with each other,” Bundy told the wire service, adding, “I don't think we need to ask Washington, D.C. for this land. It's our land.”
Paul, only one of an ever-growing field of GOP contenders for the White House, didn’t however mention Bundy's April 2014 standoff near Bunkerville, Nev.,with the Bureau of Land Management, an event that proved to be inspiring to the antigovernment movement.
Bundy has said the federal government, which controls 80 percent of the land in Nevada, has no authority there and he should be free to graze his cattle on public land without federal oversight.The BLM says Bundy still owes more than $1 million in back grazing fees for having his cattle herd roam on Nevada's public lands in Nevada for the past two decades.
The BLM has refused requests for answers about how it intends to proceed against Bundy or the others involved in the standoff, including some armed militia members who pointed firearms at federal agents, though it has promised to seek justice for Bundy’s actions.
Despite the baggage that Bundy brings to any campaign, other political candidates have sought out his celebrity. Bundy has appeared at rallies and fundraisers for other candidates, mostly in Nevada and Arizona.
Last year he showed up at an Arizona picnic attended by Republicans Douglas A. "Doug" Ducey, who was elected governor of Arizona, and Mark Brnovich, who was elected at that state’s attorney general.
Bundy, who drew widespread criticism for talking about the “negro” in an interview with The New York Times, appeared in a campaign advertisement for Kamau Bakari, who was an unsuccessful Independent American Party candidate for Congress in last fall’s elections.
