Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) poked fun of presidential rival Ben Carson Thursday for arguing that the Egyptian pyramids were grain silos rather than tombs.
“I’m really big into conspiracy theories,” Paul told host Keith Larson during his radio broadcast that morning on 1110AM WBT in Charlotte. Buzzfeed first noticed Paul’s comments.
{mosads}“I think they were probably built by the aliens as grain silos,” Paul quipped.
Carson raised eyebrows Thursday by defending remarks he made in 1998 suggesting the Bible’s Joseph built the pyramids of ancient Egypt as granaries.
“It’s still my belief, yes,” he told CBS. “The pyramids were made in a way where they were hermetically sealed compartments. You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain over a long period of time.
“Some people believe in the Bible, like I do, and don’t find that to be silly at all,” Carson said in Miami.
Donald Trump, Carson’s closest competition for next year’s GOP presidential coronation, expressed bafflement over the remarks later that morning.
“That was a strange deal,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think I’ll have to put that in my repertoire when I talk about Ben.”
Paul was quick to poke fun of Carson’s pyramid theory but declined to weigh in when the broadcaster jokingly asked if former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) is linked with the Nazis.
“I’m not even going to comment on a stupid question like that,” Paul said.
“I think when you started out with the aliens maybe building the pyramids, you had me,” Paul quipped. “When you got to Nazism, you know, you go too far.”
Trump on Wednesday retweeted a photo collage depicting Bush with a swastika. Trump’s campaign said the post, which has been deleted, was a mistake and that the candidate did not closely scrutinize its content before re-tweeting.
Paul charged Thursday that the nation has more pressing problems than conspiracy theories and social media mishaps. He cited the country’s obesity epidemic as one issue that deserves more attention.
“We’re a society rotting from the inside,” the Kentucky lawmaker said. “We’ve become sedentary.
“If you put half of everybody on a tread mill, you would get rid of half the prescription drugs in this nation.”