Rand Paul has received an autographed copy of Hillary Clinton’s book, Hard Choices . The Republican presidential hopeful placed it for resale on eBay — but not before adding his own autograph. As a final insult, in the auction description Paul labeled the book as “fiction.”
It appears that Hillary Clinton’s campaign sent Rand Paul, along with other Republican candidates, an autographed copy of Hard Choices , the memoir carrying her account of “…the crises, choices, and challenges she faced during her four years as America’s 67th Secretary of State, and how those experiences drive her view of the future.”
Republicans say they don’t think Hillary has accomplished anything—so she sent them a gift. http://t.co/nO5hZUCEkI pic.twitter.com/EJerPjx4TX
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 7, 2015
Perhaps most of these copies were placed on office shelves unread, re-gifted, or tossed in the trash, but one candidate decided to use his copy to make a statement.
Rand Paul thanked Clinton on social media, referring to the book as a work of fiction and announcing his decision to resell it. He later tweeted again, asking Clinton to send more copies.
Thanks for the great work of fiction @HillaryClinton . We decided to auction it, bid now: https://t.co/vpFcoYXB8A
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 8, 2015
Thanks for having me on @GretchenCarlson , the book is doing well on ebay! @HillaryClinton send us some more copies. https://t.co/vpFcoYXB8A
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 8, 2015
As you can see, in the initial tweet, Paul refers to the book as a “work of fiction” and announces that he’s auctioning it off on eBay.
He uses the same descriptor in his auction subtitle .
Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton-Signed by Rand Paul & Hillary Clinton GET YOUR OWN SIGNED COPY OF A GREAT FICTION BOOK!
As of Saturday evening, with a little less than two days remaining in the auction, the bidding has reached over $8,000, and Rand Paul has added a warning that there is a limit on purchase price, since the sale is considered a campaign contribution.
“Accordingly, the maximum purchase price is $15,800 and only U.S. citizens and permanent residents over 18 years of age may purchase this item. You must use your own personal funds to purchase this item and not those of any other person or entity.”
Rand Paul’s brief inscription is addressed not to the purchaser but to Clinton herself, and centers on the preferred GOP talking point regarding the Democratic presidential candidate: Benghazi.
“Hillary, Your refusal to provide security for our mission in Benghazi should forever preclude you from higher office. Rand Paul”
Paul is also including an autographed copy of his own book, Taking A Stand (subtitled: “Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America.”)
“Bid Now on a great work of fiction (Hard Choices) and a great work of non fiction (Taking a Stand).”
According to Public Policy Polling, it’s not clear that many voters agree with Rand Paul about the relative value of the two books (and candidates) though: Paul is placed at about 2 percent in GOP polls. In a general election poll, Clinton rates much better, though her numbers have fallen somewhat since the beginning of her campaign.
It’s clear from the response on Rand Paul’s tweet that for many voters, this is just another publicity stunt by a politician trailing in the polls and hoping against hope to get enough attention to repair that deficit, though there are also plenty lauding him for the public insult to his Democratic opponent.
If you’re interested in dropping thousands of dollars to purchase two books and three autographs — and to contribute heavily to Rand Paul’s campaign — you have a short amount of time to do so. Rand Paul’s auction of Hillary Clinton’s book ends Saturday at around 1 p.m. Eastern time.
[Images via: Ebay , Rand Paul, Ebay ]
