Rand Paul has fired a surprise shot across Marco Rubio’s bows two days before the next Republican primary debate, calling the Republican rising star “a neoconservative.”

Until now, Paul has not attacked Rubio by name on the campaign trail. Asked on CNN on Sunday how he saw Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on foreign policy, the Kentucky senator repeated a charge he made earlier when he said: “I see her as a neoconservative.”

He added: “I see her and Rubio as being the same person.”

Rubio, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, is seen as a relatively experienced voice on foreign affairs in the 15-strong Republican field. He has risen in polls recently, still some way behind Donald Trump and Ben Carson but seen by many as the actual politician most likely to win the Republican race.

Read the article “Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton are ‘Neoconservatives,’ Says Rand Paul” on theguardian.com.