Paul did not back down when asked about McCain on the Sean Hannity radio program.

“You know, I thought the old McCarthyism got kind of old,” Paul said. “Calling people communists, calling people friends of Russia, I thought that was so 1950s. I really thought we’re beyond that. I take it pretty seriously because when somebody in the Senate calls another senator basically a traitor to their country, you think that somebody ought to be rebuked for that?”