Rand Paul

After two days of bruising media coverage about his views on elements of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky on Friday canceled his scheduled appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Rand did 'Good Morning America' today, set the record straight, and now we are done talking about it," said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul's campaign. "No more national interviews on the topic."
Betsy Fischer, the NBC show's executive producer, responded: "Obviously, they've had a tough week -- we all know that. I hope he'll . . . keep his commitment."

Only two other people have canceled appearances on "Meet the Press": Louis Farrakhan and Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

"We tried to impress upon them that this is a big deal," Fischer said.