Instead of simply owning up to it, Paul lashed out at the media: “I’m being criticized for not having proper attribution, and yet they are able to write stuff that if I were their journalism teacher in college, I would fail them,” Paul told National Review’s Robert Costa.

Paul’s dismissive tone recalls another incident earlier this year when it was revealed that a staffer who had helped write one of his books had a long history of pro-confederate sympathies.

I have no doubt that his core supporters will stick with Paul through his plagiarism scandal, just as his father Ron’s passionate fans stuck with him, despite a troubling history of publishing racist newsletters and a tendency to make outrageous statements and claims.