William Paul, the 33-year-old son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), told a Republican congressman that a potential war with Iran was "all about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don't care if they die," during a drunken confrontation at a Capitol Hill bar Tuesday night, the New York Post reported.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told the Post by phone that William Paul interrupted a conversation at the popular D.C. watering hole, launched into remarks about Jews, the Middle East, and GOP megadonor Paul Singer, and then knocked over a bar stool and stumbled out. A reporter for NOTUS, which first revealed the incident, was also present at the bar.
By Wednesday afternoon, William Paul had posted a brief apology on X. The episode is the latest in a string of alcohol-related incidents stretching back more than a decade for the senator's son, and it lands squarely in the middle of a Republican caucus already dealing with internal friction over Iran war powers and personnel fights within the party.
Lawler, the Hudson Valley Republican, described the encounter in blunt terms. He said he was sitting at the bar with a friend and a NOTUS reporter when William Paul sat down next to them and inserted himself into their conversation.
Lawler told the Post:
"So Rand Paul's f, ing son is sitting next to us at the bar... And he just like chimes in on our conversation, f, ing drunk and belligerent, and then starts going off about, you know, if [Rep. Thomas] Massie [R-Ky.] loses [his primary], it's because of my people."
When Lawler asked what "my people" meant, the answer came fast.
"I'm like, 'What people?' He goes, 'Jews,' and I'm like, 'Do you think I'm Jewish?... I'm Irish-Italian Catholic, buddy.'"
William Paul appeared surprised, Lawler said. But the conversation did not end there. Lawler recounted that Paul then shifted to the Middle East, accusing the United States of trying to "steal Iran's land for the Jews and steal the West Bank." He also accused billionaire GOP donor Paul Singer, an American citizen, of doing "Israel's bidding."
Then came the line that will follow William Paul for a long time. Lawler said Paul declared that the conflict was "all about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don't care if they die."
After that, Lawler told the Post, William Paul knocked over a stool and stumbled out of the Capitol Hill bar.
On Wednesday afternoon, William Paul posted a short statement on X under the handle @TastyBrew1776:
"Last night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don't represent who I really am. I'm sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem."
The apology was brief. It did not address the specific remarks Lawler attributed to him. It did not mention Lawler, Singer, or any of the groups he reportedly disparaged. It acknowledged only that he drank too much and "said some things."
For William Paul, this is not a first offense. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to driving under the influence after crashing his Honda truck into a parked car, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported at the time. Two years before that DUI case, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 22-year-old female flight attendant on a plane headed to Charlotte, N.C. Authorities charged him with consuming beer or wine underage and disorderly conduct.
A pattern of alcohol-fueled misconduct spanning more than a decade makes the "this doesn't represent who I really am" defense harder to sustain. At some point, repeated behavior under the same substance does start to represent something, at minimum, a serious and unresolved problem.
William Paul is not just a senator's son living a private life. He has been a working member of the Republican congressional apparatus. From August 2024 to January 2025, he served in the office of West Virginia GOP Rep. Alex Mooney. From January to June 2025, he worked as digital director for Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.). He has also worked at FreedomWorks Inc. and Americans for Tax Reform.
That employment history means William Paul has been embedded in the conservative policy world. He is not some distant family member with no connection to the movement. He has drawn a paycheck from Republican offices and organizations, which makes his reported comments about Jews, gay people, and a sitting GOP donor all the more damaging to the people and institutions around him.
The broader Republican conference is already navigating real internal tensions. The Senate has repeatedly debated Iran war powers, with members on both sides of the aisle breaking from their parties on the question. Sen. Rand Paul himself has been at the center of personnel disputes, opposing, just this past March, the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The elder Paul's stated reason for opposing Mullin was revealing. He questioned whether someone who endorsed "dueling" to resolve political differences was fit to run an agency that, in his words, "has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force." That concern for rhetorical standards makes the silence from his own family all the more conspicuous.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, did not respond to the Post's requests for comment. No statement from his office has surfaced addressing his son's remarks.
That silence is notable. Rand Paul has never been shy about holding others to account. His opposition to Mullin's DHS nomination was rooted in a concern about tone and temperament. His public record includes pointed statements about the proper conduct of officials and public figures. The growing wave of departures and disruptions inside the House GOP has made the party's internal discipline a live issue. A senator's adult son spewing hatred at a bar, in front of a reporter, no less, is exactly the kind of episode that demands a clear, public response.
Whether Sen. Paul will eventually address the incident remains an open question. But the longer the silence lasts, the louder it becomes.
There is no political home for antisemitism or anti-gay hatred in the conservative movement. Full stop. The Republican Party has spent years, rightly, calling out antisemitism on college campuses, in progressive activist circles, and inside the Democratic caucus. That moral authority evaporates the moment similar poison surfaces closer to home and gets met with a shrug or a vague apology about "drinking too much."
William Paul's remarks, as recounted by Lawler, were not ambiguous. They were not a slip of the tongue or an awkward joke taken out of context. He reportedly told a sitting congressman that he hates Jews and gay people and does not care if they die. That is not a policy disagreement. It is bigotry, stated plainly.
The fact that alcohol was involved does not excuse it. Millions of Americans drink without declaring hatred for entire groups of people. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, it does not implant beliefs that were not already there. The apology's careful avoidance of the specific words Lawler attributed to him only underscores how inadequate it was. Capitol Hill has seen unusual bipartisan moments in recent weeks, but this is the kind of incident that crosses every partisan line.
Conservatives who have demanded accountability from the left on antisemitism, and they should keep demanding it, cannot look the other way when the offender is connected to one of their own. The standard is the standard. It does not bend for family names or political convenience.
No police report, security footage, or independent witness account beyond Lawler and the NOTUS reporter has been cited. William Paul's own apology, while not repeating the specific language, does acknowledge that he drank too much and said things he now regrets. That partial confirmation, combined with Lawler's detailed and on-the-record account, paints a picture that is difficult to dismiss.
The open questions remain: Will Sen. Paul address this publicly? Will any of the offices or organizations that employed William Paul issue statements? And will the conservative movement treat this with the same seriousness it would demand if the offender had a "D" next to his name?
As Democrats navigate their own internal contradictions, Republicans cannot afford to let theirs fester unchallenged.
If the right wants to be the party that holds the line on antisemitism, it has to hold the line everywhere, especially when it's uncomfortable.
