The rise of Islamic State extremists in the Middle East can be traced to Republicans who backed arming fighters in the region, presidential candidate Rand Paul said in an interview broadcast Wednesday.
"ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS," Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said on MSNBC, using an alternative abbreviation for the terrorist group.
Reaction from Paul's fellow Republicans was swift.