Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during an event at the University of Chicago’s Ida Noyes Hall in Chicago on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles)

If you were to believe the mainstream media, they would tell you that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was blocking the 9/11 funds. There’s more to the story, of course.

“It has long been my feeling that we need to address our massive debt in the country,” he said.

“And therefore any new spending that we are approaching, any new program that’s going to have the longevity of 70, 80 years, should be offset by cutting spending that’s less valuable. We need to, at the very least, have this debate,” he continued. “I will be offering up an amendment if this bill should come to the floor, but until then, I object.”

As reported by The Hill, a spokesperson for Paul clarified that he’s not blocking anything, just looking for a way to pay for costs:

A spokesperson for Paul later told The Hill that Paul “is not blocking anything,” adding that he is “simply seeking to pay for it.”

“As with any bill, Senator Paul always believes it needs to be paid for. Senator Paul is simply offering an amendment, which other senators support, to pay for this legislation,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Paul also took to Twitter to clarify what was happening.

Not blocking the 9/11 bill – simply asking for a vote on an amendment to offset the cost.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 17, 2019

The left immediately began virtue signaling, starting with New York Senator and 2020 tag-a-long Kirsten Gillibrand who said she was “deeply disappointed that my colleague has just objected to the desperately needed and urgent bill for our 9/11 first responders.”

Other various media outlets began repeating that Paul is blocking the fund to help the first responders of 9/11. Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart even stepped in and bashed Paul, ignoring that both Paul and Sen. Mike Lee are only offering amendments, not blocking the bill.

Given its sensitive nature, I can understand why people would become upset with the stall, but asking for a debate over cost offsets on a bill that will cost us over $10 billion through the next decade is entirely reasonable. Still, the left is making out like Paul doesn’t care about the heroes of 9/11. Gillibrand made the comment that Paul should stop playing political games, but once again, it’s the left doing all the gaming.

Of course, all their virtue signaling and theatrical outrage for something they supposedly care about was nowhere to be seen when “The Squad” failed to vote for funding for the migrants families at the border.

Resisting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call for billions in emergency border funding, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley(Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) all voted against the bill, effectively attempting to deny aid to the migrants they reportedly care so much about in order to own Trump.

“Throwing more money at the very organizations committing human rights abuses—and the very Administration directing these human rights abuses—is not a solution,” said Omar. “This is a humanitarian crisis—a humanitarian crisis inflicted by our own leadership. It’s also a refugee crisis fueled by state violence, corruption, and impunity in the Northern Triangle–one that this Administration has only fueled through mass deportation and slashing aid.”

Yes, they slashed aid in order to get back at Trump for slashing aid.

Was their backlash? No. Despite the fact that Democrats consider the immigrants at the southern border to be the sharpest arrow in their quiver, the mainstream media shrugged off “The Squad’s” so-called principled stance and continued to rail about the horrific things Republicans were doing.

Once again, Paul isn’t even blocking funding for the 9/11 bill, just offering an amendment and encouraging debate about where they can cut costs elsewhere to help fund it. “The Squad” flat out denied emergency border funding just to spite Trump.

Yet, look at what the media and the left is losing its mind over.