Rand Paul Is Backing Mitch McConnell's Re-election, But Has No Idea Why

Sen. Rand Paul is endorsing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, his fellow Kentucky Republican, for re-election, but doesn't seem quite sure why.

Last year, Paul announced that he would throw his support behind the unpopular McConnell’s re-election, even though McConnell supported his opponent in the 2010 GOP primary. But appearing on Glenn Beck’s talk show Saturday, Paul struggled to find a reason why he’s supporting the senior senator.

"Um ... I'm here in Texas today to endorse Don Huffines," Paul replied, dodging the question. Paul was in fact in Texas to promote Huffines’ campaign for the Texas state Senate, but his response didn’t exactly make the case for McConnell.

After Beck and Paul both laughed over Paul’s evasion, Paul struggled to give a serious answer to the question.

"Uhh, because he asked me," Paul said. "He asked me when there was nobody else in the race. And I said yes."

"Well, Al Gore has asked me to change my opinion on global warming, and I don't do that,” Beck responded, laughing.

“If this is the way it works, then I’m asking you to endorse running for president in 2016 right now,” he continued.

Paul laughed and immediately moved on to discussing Huffines’ candidacy, apparently unable to come up with even a single positive reason why fellow Kentuckians should support Mitch McConnell’s re-election. His stand is especially awkward for him, given that McConnell endorsed Trey Grayson, his opponent, during his first Senate campaign.

Meanwhile, McConnell’s own primary opponent this year, Matt Bevin, still hopes he can steal the Republican nomination from the Senate minority leader. Bevin, a Louisville businessman, stated Monday that Paul’s supporters will still flock to him even if the senator formally supports McConnell.

"Rand made this decision before I was in the race. That's his opinion. Rand is one vote. Rand will vote one time," Bevin told the Washington Post at the headquarters of his Tea Party backers, Freedomworks.

And Bevin is not McConnell's only trouble. In a Bluegrass Poll taken last week, the incumbent trailed Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state, by 46 to 42 percent in the general election. His favorable-to-unfavorable rating was a dismal 27-to-50 percent.

Watch Rand Paul attempt to justify his support of Mitch McConnell below.