Trevor Noah hosts debate with Rand Paul on Daily Show

Trevor Noah hosted a drinking game debate with Rand Paul on The Daily Show

Rand Paul protested his exclusion from the main stage at tonight’s Republican debate on Fox Business Network by holding his own debate on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Wednesday night.

“I was worried I wasn’t going to make the debate and I did, I made the debate,” Paul said, referencing the cable network’s criteria that pushed he and fellow GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina into the earlier undercard debate due to sagging poll numbers. “I was so close to being excluded. You’re going to beam me right in, right?”

Noah dubbed the event as “GOP Debate Singles Night,” but quickly attempted to make it into a drinking game, revealing shelves of the finest Kentucky bourbon with issues written on them behind a podium. The topics included War in the Middle East, the economy, drugs and gun control.

Noah promised he would take a shot every time he felt Paul wasn’t actually answering the question. The Kentucky senator was actually fairly straightforward with his answers, but Noah drank anyways, with Paul also taking a swig at several points after amending the game to include drinking whenever Warren Buffett, tai chi or Donald Trump were mentioned.

“I’m not saying we can’t defend ourselves, but we have to think about what we do before we do it and think about the ramifications of doing it,” Paul responded when asked about the Republican field’s willingness to bomb their way out of conflicts.

Paul also took swipes at fellow 2016 presidential candidates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton over their support of no-fly zones while delivering his best Christie impression.

Paul stood by his libertarian principles on most other topics as well, maintaining that he doesn’t want the government telling people “what to smoke, what to drink and what to read,” and advocating for getting rid of what he views as burdensome regulations from the federal government, while lowering taxes to compete with global markets, including putting in place a flat tax.

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“My belief is in the individual,” he explained while referencing the non-aggression principle. “And individuals will make mistakes. But I think the individual ought to be left alone as long you’re not hurting someone else.”

Paul later promised that he would legalize marijuana at the federal level if he were president and allow states to decide whether or not to follow suit.

“For example, right now Colorado has decided that it’s not illegal. I think that is completely Colorado’s purview,” he explained. “There shouldn’t be federal laws against most things.”

Asked why Americans need guns, Paul explained that it’s mostly for hunting, protection and the threats of tyranny. He admitted he has shot his gun only two times and said that guns act as a deterrent for burglars and other criminals.

“What’s impractical about what the president’s saying is that he wants me to get a federal license to sell one shotgun to you – it’s very, very expensive and really just wouldn’t work,” he said, alluding to President Obama’s recent executive actions on guns.

Paul also suggested putting signs in schools warning people that the building is armed is the most important change to battling gun violence, and approved of the idea of arming teachers or principals in schools that don’t already have security guards.

“Are you going to need help?” Paul asked at one point after Noah poured himself more bourbon.

“Don’t tell me what to do government,” responded the host.

Watch the two segments below:

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
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The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Get More: The Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,The Daily Show Video Archive

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Paul is hoping that making such appearances on The Daily Show and all of the cable news network ahead of the debate – which he has decided to boycott after being demoted to the kids’ table to share the stage with Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum – will help his struggling campaign by getting his libertarian-inspired message out to voters. He will also hold a town hall meeting on Facebook Thursday evening.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah airs a new episode tonight on Comedy Central with guest Ice Cube.