Sen. Rand Paul walked out of a Guardian U.S. interview being conducted via the live streaming app Periscope on Friday. 
 
 Guardian reporter Paul Lewis was asking the Kentucky Republican and 2016 Republican presidential candidate about criminal justice reform. 
 
 "One more question for you, sorry we have to sometimes be a bit forceful, when you stand for president you get pressed and questioned and you understand that," Lewis said, before mentioning that at Paul's campaign launch on Tuesday he got an enthusiastic response to his calls for criminal justice reform. 
 
 "You're standing for the Republican nomination, all the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans who will determine the outcome of this race, don't think criminal law is applied in an unfair way, so how are you going to win the nomination with this..." Lewis asked before being cut off by Paul. 
 
 "I think your premise is incorrect," Paul said. "I think I can take that message into a white Evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give the exact same speech and be received well." 
 
 Lewis then tried to quote a recent Washington Post and ABC poll, before Paul pointed at him, looked at his staff, said something unintelligible and walked out. 
 
 Lewis got back in front of the camera to explain what happened when the lights in the room were turned off. 
 
 "So we got that interview cut off maybe it was because I was about to push him on the specific, oh the lights are off in fact, we're being told to go," Lewis said. "But the specifics of why Republicans, most of them don't think that criminal law is applied [unequally], two in three white Republicans say that according to a poll last week, would've been great to say that to Sen. Paul, the interview was cut short, but that's periscope." 
 
 Paul's team later tweeted "We didn't turn the lights off and neither did my staff. CNN producers did. It was time for my interview with [CNN's Dana Bash.]" 
 
 Lewis later tweeted that a CNN producer was the one to turn out the lights. 
 
 "Pleased Rand Paul gave us a live Periscope interview. Shame he didn't seem keen on answering specifics," Lewis wrote. 
 
 The incident is the latest in a string of testy interviews Paul has had with the media. Earlier this week he clashed with "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, accusing her of editorializing her questions. As we reported earlier this week, Paul is well known among members of the media for being an accessible candidate, but one with a particularly prickly demeanor that could continue to cause him trouble as the campaign continues. 
 
 UPDATE (4:10p.m.): 
 
 Paul spokesperson Sergio Gor explains the situation in an email: 
 
 Senator Paul had multiple interviews and the reporter knew we had limited time, that's why he told the reporter that he had time for one more question. When that question ended, he had to move to his next interview. We did not turn the lights off, that was CNN producers who were taping an interview right after and need a different look for the room. 
 
 Read more about: Rand Paul, Rand Paul 2016 ||||| While political candidates like Hillary Clinton and Rand Paul embrace technology in the 2016 presidential election, sometimes they're just not ready for prime time. 
 
 Case in point: The fiasco of Rand Paul's latest interview on Periscope, the live-streaming video app that broadcasts directly to Twitter. With the lightness and ease of home video, Periscope and its rival, Meerkat, work right from iPhones to capture moments that viewers love to see — but which political candidates may not want to share. 
 
 See also: The 9 most Rand Paul things Rand Paul has ever said 
 
 That was evident when Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul stalked off in a huff in the middle of a Periscope interview with The Guardian on Friday, leaving correspondent Paul Lewis to theorize about the candidate's sudden departure as the lights in the room went out. 
 
 It went about as well as some of Paul's other recent media interviews: In other words, not great. 
 
 Toward the end of his interview, The Guardian's Lewis began to ask about the candidate's campaign strategy with regard to law enforcement reform to prevent the killing of unarmed men. Lewis touched upon the sensitive point of evangelical Christians as Paul visibly tensed up. Lewis suggested that polls showed evangelical Christians oppose law enforcement reform, and asked Paul how he would square those two ideas. 
 
 "You're standing for the Republican nomination, all the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans who are going to determine the outcome of this race, don't think that the criminal law is applied in an unfair way. So how are you going to win the nomination with this group," Lewis said. 
 
 Paul, who almost cut off the end of Lewis's question, responded: "I think your premise is incorrect. I think that I can take that message into a white evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give exactly the same speech and be received well." 
 
 Lewis attempted to mount a follow-up question, but Paul abruptly left. As Lewis attempted to explain Paul's departure and wrap up the interview, the lights were shut off on him. 
 
 "It would have been great to put that question to Senator Paul. The interview was cut short, but that's Periscope," Lewis said. 
 
 Such are the risks of live media. According to a spokesperson for the the Guardian, the candidate had said he would answer one more question before the quick exit. 
 
 Lewis clarified that it was not Paul's people that turned the lights out. 
 
 In fairness to @RandPaul campaign, they didn't turn off the lights. (A CNN producer did.) Still: a shame he ended interview so abruptly. — Paul Lewis (@PaulLewis) April 10, 2015 
 
 We didn't turn the lights off and neither did my staff. CNN producers did. It was time for my interview with @DanaBashCNN - Team Rand — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 10, 2015 
 
 Still, it's not a great look for the Paul campaign, particularly in light of his recent difficulties with interviews. 
 
 The candidate, who is firmly in the middle of the pack in the race for the Republican nomination, is already gaining a reputation for being a hothead who bristles in response to questioning from journalists. 
 
 In February, Paul shushed CNBC anchor Kelly Evans during an interview about legislation that offered a tax holiday for companies that would bring cash back from overseas. Then, in early April, Paul got into a contentious exchange with Savannah Guthrie of the "Today" show over perceived changes in his stances on certain issues. 
 
 Days later, Paul was confronted about those interviews by Fox News's Megyn Kelly, who wondered if the candidate was "ready for primetime" due to his problems handling interviews. ||||| Rand Paul has finished his speech to CPAC and is avoiding the crowds for a couple of minutes. Outside of a small media suite, where he's taking questions, there are foreign TV cameras, college kids wearing stickers from Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, and men holding folders of glossy photos that they want signed. They are kept at bay by security officers who, they will learn, are guarding Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. 
 
 Paul tells reporters what he thinks about House Republicans proposing deeper budget cuts than they were proposing a week ago. 
 
 "Good!" he says. "Maybe I'm having some impact up here!" 
 
 CNN asks Paul what he thought when Donald Trump, who had made a surprise appearance at the conference, said his father Ron Paul couldn't win the presidency. 
 
 "I think his chances are less than my father's," he says. 
 
 He slips out of the room, heads to a car, and answers a question about his proposal to cut basically all foreign aid. Does the turmoil in Egypt suggest that foreign aid doesn't work? 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 
 
 "I read an article in the Wall Street Journal," says Paul, "which I thought was pretty good, about how we turn on a dime from being best friends with people to saying they're autocrats who're not allowing freedom of speech. That may well be true, but it seemed like a little bit of a contradiction. We're all for Mubarak, and a day later we're not." 
 
 He is close to the car now, finishing the thought, and he's interrupted. 
 
 "Senator Paul, can you sign my baseball?" 
 
 "I can't right now," says Paul. 
 
 "But I've been waiting here!" 
 
 "He doesn't play baseball," says Paul's press secretary. "Why would he sign a baseball?" 
 
 "It's what I collect," says the fan. He says his name is Adam. Paul signs his baseball. 
 
 Four years ago, Rand Paul was helping out his father on a presidential campaign that was not taken very seriously. This was fair, in horse-race terms. Ron Paul seemed like the sort of candidate who runs, makes a statement, introduces an issue, and fades away. The issues were abolishing the Federal Reserve, ending both wars in Central Asia, abolishing the entitlement state, and ending the war on drugs. No Republican candidate adopted any of these issues. Paul's supporters, younger and rowdier and more akin to quoting Murray Rothbard than other Republicans, were grudgingly accepted. 
 
 Fast forward to CPAC 2011. The economic portions of Ron Paul's agenda are no longer controversial. Rand Paul is a U.S. senator who can command media attention and confused sports fans. 
 
 "It's not just that Rand is a senator," says William Thompson, a Georgia activist attending with Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty—the group he set up after shutting down his 2008 presidential bid. "He's one of the senators everyone knows. If you ask somebody who doesn't follow politics to name a politician, they might name him." 
 
 Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. 
 
 Like Slate Politics on Facebook. Follow Slate on Twitter. ||||| Rand Paul clashes with Savannah Guthrie over changing views 
 
 Sen. Rand Paul clashed with “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie over her line of questioning during an interview Wednesday morning, criticizing her for editorializing over perceived changes in his political views since his election to the Senate. 
 
 “You have had views on foreign policy in the past that were somewhat unorthodox, but you seem to have changed over the years,” Guthrie told the Kentucky Republican, who was appearing via satellite from Nashua, New Hampshire. “You once said Iran was not a threat, now you say it is. You once proposed ending foreign aid to Israel, now you support it, at least for the time being, and you once offered to drastically cut … defense spending.” 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Paul attempted to speak as Guthrie continued. 
 
 “Why don’t we let me explain instead of talking over me, OK?” Paul interjected. “Before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don’t you ask me a question, ‘Have I changed my opinion?’ That would sort of a better way to approach an interview.” 
 
 “Is Iran still not a threat?” Guthrie asked in the cross-talk. 
 
 “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Listen, you’ve editorialized,” Paul said. “Let me answer a question. You ask a question, and you say, ‘Have your views changed?’ instead of editorializing and saying my views have changed.” 
 
 Paul said he has come to the realization that limiting foreign aid to other countries “will have to be done gradually.” 
 
 “My opinion has always been that we shouldn’t borrow money from China to send it to any country — Pakistan, Israel, or any other country,” he said. “But I also realize that things will have to be done gradually, and if we are going to try to eliminate or reduce foreign aid, why don’t we start with the countries that hate us, that burn our flag. And the one thing that is true is that Israel doesn’t burn our flag, and so I haven’t proposed removing aid from Israel —” 
 
 “But you once did,” Guthrie said. 
 
 “But I still agree with my original precept, which is,” Paul continued. “Let me answer the question. I still agree with my original statement years ago that ultimately, all nations should be free of foreign aid because we shouldn’t borrow money to do it.” 
 
 Paul said that his opinion is no different from that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, referencing a 1996 address Netanyahu delivered at a joint meeting of Congress in which he said Israel would be stronger without reliance on foreign aid for defense products. 
 
 Pressed on his changing views of Iran, Paul answered a question on whether he had altered his 2007 assessment that Iran was not a serious threat to the United States. 
 
 Paul said, “2007 was a long time ago, and events do change over long periods of time. What I would say is that there has always been a threat of Iran gaining nuclear weapons, and I think that’s greater than it was many years ago. I think we should do everything we can to try to stop them.”
– Rand Paul cut a media interview short yesterday and walked off when pressed over a specific issue—but it's not clear whether Paul was miffed or just out of time. Interviewing him over the app Periscope, Guardian reporter Paul Lewis asked whether the GOP presidential contender's passion for criminal justice reform will jibe with white Republicans: "All the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans ... don't think criminal law is applied in an unfair way, so how are you going to win the nomination with this," says Lewis. Paul cuts in, saying that "I think your premise is incorrect. I think I can take that message into a white Evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give the exact same speech and be received well." Lewis tries to quote a couple of polls, but Paul points in his direction, says something hard to hear, and walks off. Soon the lights in Paul's room are turned off. "So we got that interview cut off maybe it was because I was about to push him on the specific, oh the lights are off in fact, we're being told to go," says Lewis. But Paul's people tweeted that it was CNN that turned the lights out, and the Guardian admits that Paul had said he only had time for one more question, Mashable reports. Yet Paul has struggled with other reporters recently, shushing CNBC anchor Kelly Evans and having a heated exchange with Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie. Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked him about it last month and wondered aloud whether he was "ready for primetime." See the Guardian interview here.