A day after Sen. Rand Paul was suspended from writing for the Washington Times, a new publication is taking a chance on the accused plagiarist.
On Wednesday, the right-wing news site Breitbart announced the Kentucky senator would move his editorial column to Breitbart.com for a “new, wider audience.”
“We are pleased to add Senator Paul to our lineup of fearless, original thought leaders,” Breitbart News CEO Larry Solov said in an article posted to Breitbart.com. “Most of all, we think the fighting spirit he has became known for is a perfect fit for Breitbart News Network and reflects that of our founder, Andrew Breitbart.”
The announced move comes less than a day after the Washington Times dumped Paul’s column after it was discovered he had plagiarized one of his op-eds. The Times said the decision to end its relationship with Paul was mutual.
Allegations that Paul has plagiarized multiple sources in his speeches and his writing were first levied against the senator last week, when MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported he had lifted text from a Wikipedia entry on the film Gattaca during a recent speech in Virginia. Since then, BuzzFeed and Politico have both uncovered additional evidence of work with Paul’s name on it that were copied from other works.
Traci Lee