William Paul apologized on Wednesday after a drunken tirade at a Washington bar, saying he had “too much to drink” and had said things that “don’t represent who I really am.” He added that he was “seeking help for my drinking problem.”
The apology came after Mike Lawler said Paul accosted him Tuesday night at the Tune Inn Restaurant & Bar on Pennsylvania Avenue and launched what the congressman described as “a 10-minute diatribe about Jews.” Lawler said Paul told him he would hold “anti-American” Jews responsible if Thomas Massie loses a primary election next week, and said Paul also told him he hates Jews and hates gays and does not care if they die. “I think that’s fucking disgusting,” Lawler said.
Lawler said Paul blamed Israel for the U.S. war on Iran and said the United States was “trying to steal Iran’s land for the Jews and steal the West Bank.” He said Paul also told him, “Paul Singer serves Israeli interests, not American interests,” and, after Lawler pointed out that he was not Jewish, responded, “Oh wow, I’m so sorry for calling you a Jew,” before continuing the tirade. Paul also urged Lawler “to watch more Tucker Carlson” before, according to Lawler, flipping him off and tripping over his bar stool as he left.
The episode carried extra weight because Paul had recently served as a congressional aide to two of Lawler’s Republican colleagues in the House. It also landed in the middle of a hard-fought primary campaign involving Massie, whose race next week against Ed Gallrein has already drawn unusual attention for its crosscurrents of politics, ideology and personal attacks. An outside group supporting Massie’s campaign ran an ad attacking Gallrein that included anti-LGBTQ language and an image of Paul Singer in front of a rainbow-colored Star of David.
Massie has been a critic of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and led the effort to force the release of files on Jeffrey Epstein, making his primary an easy target for commentary from people trying to turn the race into something bigger than a district contest. But the barroom exchange described by Lawler was about something more immediate: whether a political figure can be held to account for comments made in public after a night of drinking.
Paul’s statement on Wednesday tried to draw that line himself. The question now is not whether he is apologizing, but whether that apology is enough to contain a story that has already spread beyond one bar, one night and one conversation in Washington.
