It would be sexist not to treat Hillary Clinton as a man during her bid for the White House, GOP presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said during a CNN interview.
"I would treat her with the same respect that I would treat a man, but I wouldn't lay down and say, 'Oh, I'm not going to respond out of some sort of' - and I think that would be a sexist response to say, 'Oh, my goodness, she deserves not to be treated as aggressively, because she's only a woman," Paul said. "I would never say that about anybody."
His comments come following two interviews, with NBC's Savannah Guthrie and CNBC's Kelly Evans, in which he was perceived as acting rude towards the female interviewer, leaving some questioning whether Paul holds negative feelings towards women.
But Paul said that's definitely not the case.
"I'm always polite, and even in all the interviews where I'm accused of maybe being too aggressive. I've never yelled or screamed. I don't get out of control. I do try to be polite and have always treated it that way. I would treat her with the same respect I would treat a man," Paul said.
"I don't come into our interview thinking, 'OK, it's a woman versus a man kind of interview,'" he added. "I just think she's going to ask tough questions, he will ask tough questions, I've got to be prepared."
Paul, like many fellow Republicans, has long been accused by Democrats of waging a so-called "war on women."
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Thursday that if she was the GOP's presidential nominee, the left, in particular the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, would no longer be able to play the "gender card."
"I think that if Hillary Clinton were to face a female nominee, there are a whole set of things that she won't be able to talk about," Fiorina said, who is considering a bid for president, reported The Washington Times. "She won't be able to talk about being the first woman president. She won't be able to talk about a war on women without being challenged. She won't be able to play the gender card."
