Sen. Rand Paul: 'No real evidence' lockdowns are 'changing the trajectory' of COVID-19

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Sen. Paul: Govs who claim 'science' behind lockdowns are ignoring it

Kentucky Republican tells 'The Story' restrictive edicts appear to be useless against coronavirus

"There's no real evidence" that any of the lockdowns imposed by state and local officials in response to the coronavirus pandemic are "changing the trajectory of the disease," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told "The Story" Monday. 

"You know, without question, this virus has been devastating to so many families," Paul told host Martha MacCallum. "[My wife] Kelley and I lost a good friend today and we're grieving for them and our prayers go out to their family. 

"But the thing is, we ought to at least still use logic to try to figure out how we stop this ...," Paul added. "I don't see any evidence that crowd control, hand washing, standing six feet apart, all of these things they tell you to do -- closing down the restaurants, closing down the schools -- there's no real evidence that they are changing the trajectory of the disease."

The senator added that "if you look at the incidence of COVID, it's going up ... exponentially despite all the mandates. So those who say there is science [behind the restrictions] just aren't paying attention to it."

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Paul emphasized that he wasn't speaking out of "a lack of compassion."

"I want people to get the vaccine, I want them to be able to avoid this scourge," he told MacCallum, "but at the same time, keeping all our kids home isn't changing the course of this disease.

"They've studied this in four different country-wide studies. They've studied the incidence of the disease, they've studied the transference of the disease, and they've found that closing schools doesn't work. Even the socialist [New York City Mayor Bill] de Blasio is now opening schools."

Later in the interview, Paul told viewers that he was not "telling everyone to go to church.

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"I think there are some people in our society where there are dangers to ... [sitting] in church for two hours. If you're in your mid-80s and you're listening to this, I'm not recommending it," he said. "But I'm also telling you that the government shouldn't tell you you can't go to church and the government shouldn't tell you can't send your kids to a religious school."

Paul contended that "there's good advice and you can take advice and you can give advice. But once you mandate it, it doesn't become advice. It becomes a form of tyranny. So I think the government should not be in the form of mandating these things, because sometimes the science isn't clear and sometimes they change their mind on the science month to month and week to week."