Ron Paul called Secret Service protection a type of "welfare."
"It's a form of welfare," Paul, the libertarian Republican presidential candidate and Texas congressman, said Tuesday on the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
"You’re having the taxpayers pay to take care of somebody," Paul continued, according to CNN. "And I’m an ordinary citizen, and I think I should pay for my own protection."
Paul's comments came shortly after
GQ magazine revealed the Secret Service codenames of two other contenders in the Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Romney's codename is "Javelin" and Santorum's is "Petrus."
After the names were revealed, Santorum was quick to try and use Romney's codename against him.
"I understand they named it after an American Motors car. I remember the Javelin. It was a very unusual car, so I think it sort of fits," Santorum
said on Fox News.
