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McCain Compares Paul to Lindbergh, Ford

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz) had sharp words for Shepard Smith concerning the future of the Republican party Friday on "Studio B":

SHEPARD SMITH: One things for sure, Republicans want to win and another thing for sure, and another thing that's for sure is that they have not been winning in national elections lately. And another thing that is for sure is that there's a battle for the soul of the party. And there appear to be two wings. It appears Rand Paul just made his entrance on to the national stage, and upon watching your quotes, and Sen. Lindsey Graham's quotes, the Republican strategist -- Rick Wilson saw this and said Sen. Graham and asked if this was representative of the twilight of the old order of the Republican Party? Is the Republican Party changing and do you think the change is good?

JOHN MCCAIN: After I came home from Vietnam, our military had deteriorated to the point where the chief of staff of the Army came before Congress and said we had a "hollow Army." We're doing that in the form of sequestration, and along came Ronald Reagan who restored our military, restored our strength, won the Cold War without firing a shot. That's the wing of the party that I'm part of and will remain part of, and the part I believe will be the future of the Republican Party. You can go back to post World War I, prior to World War II Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, post-World War II, the Taft-wing of the party. There's always been that element, but the really winning part of our party is that that believes as Ronald Reagan did, in peace through strength and that's the best way to avoid conflicts, including what we're seeing now in the world, where the world believes America is weak can and withdrawing and they're making the kind of conclusions that I think will endanger America's future.

Full interview: