The fictional character Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is a great illustration of Donald Trump’s personality, according to Senator Rand Paul.
In a post shared to his Facebook page, Senator Paul argued that the American people don’t need power-hungry politicians leading the country.
“This race should not be about who can grasp the ring. Electing Gollum should not be our objective. This race should be about which candidate will best protect you from an overbearing government.”
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit , Gollum is portrayed as a pathetic creature that has been consumed with greed. According to Paul, electing Trump would be like electing Gollum.
He also said that the real estate mogul is against the idea of a limited government.
“They wrote the constitution to restrain the accumulation of power by the government. Trump is ignorant of this tradition, or worse yet, he is overtly opposed to the limited government tradition.”
Both Paul and Trump are seeking the Republican presidential nomination. While Trump has consistently been in the lead, Paul has been at the back of the pack for some time. Rand Paul did not meet the criteria to be included on the main stage at the last GOP debate.
![[Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images]](http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/501500120-670x464.jpg)
In his post, Paul suggested that voters elect a candidate who will protect the people from an overreaching government rather than one who simply seeks power.
“I am the only one on this national stage who really doesn’t want power or dominion over you. I want to set you free, I want to leave you alone, and I want a government so small you can barely see it.”
Trump and Paul have not exactly been friendly to each other throughout this election cycle. Paul criticizes Trump for not being a “true conservative” and for being power hungry, while Trump mocks Paul for being unpopular and for his looks.
Just yesterday, Paul called Trump a “fake conservative” , although he wouldn’t call Trump’s latest supporter Sarah Palin the same.
“The question for conservatives is whether Donald Trump is a real conservative or not. I think he’s a fake conservative.”
Trump’s attacks on Paul have been a little less sophisticated. Last September at a GOP debate, Paul criticized Trump for making fun of the way people look. Mr. Trump responded by making fun of the Senator’s looks.
“I never attacked him or his looks, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter right there.”
Paul has been perhaps one of the most consistent attackers of Trump throughout his campaign. Sen. Paul doesn’t have anything to show for all of his attacks, though. It seems that every time a candidate attacks the billionaire real estate mogul, their poll numbers fall while Trump’s continue to improve.
Though Senator Paul started out his campaign with relatively high poll numbers, his message of anti-establishment conservatism has been drowned out by other, louder candidates like Trump, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson.
Donald Trump certainly has an enormous lead over Rand in the polls. Paul’s RCP average is 2.2 percent while Mr. Trump has an average of 34.8 percent. While there may not currently be a real competition between the two candidates, Paul is hoping that his limited government message will catch on.
Paul has urged voters to examine Trump’s record and decide for themselves whether the billionaire is a real conservative or not. It’s unclear if there is any hope for the Paul campaign. While elections are full of surprises, time is running out.
Next month, we’ll find out who wins Iowa. It currently doesn’t look very good for Rand Paul. He has an RCP average of 3.4 percent in Iowa, while Trump is at 28.8 percent.
[Photo by Evan Vucci/AP]