U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) on Thursday spoke at an Intern Lecture Series event hosted by The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. with a mission “to educate students and young adults about leadership, the principles of limited government, and free-market economics.”
[NOTE: TFAS organizes a weekly speaking event during the summer for interns working on Capitol Hill.]
Paul reported a “fantastic turnout” for a “great discussion” and thanked libertarian activist Matt Kibbe for addressing the crowd.
Fantastic turnout at today’s Intern Lecture Series. A very special thank you to @MattKibbe and @TFASorg for joining us. It made for great discussion!
Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff! https://t.co/BtY1Geekxv pic.twitter.com/7vrYb7xhqO
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) June 11, 2026
Kibbe, who is president of Free the People, a D.C. nonprofit “that uses video storytelling to promote libertarian ideas to the young,” is also the author of The New York Times bestselling book, ‘Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto.’ (The title references the first two of six rules to “regain control of our lives” suggested by Kibbe.)
As seen below, Kibbe told the young audience: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
He added: “There’s no good power or bad power, there’s only limited power, or unlimited power. And I happen to be in the camp that wants to limit power as much as possible. I don’t want you guys to have power here in Washington, D.C. I want you to have power back in your communities, back in your homes. That was the genius of the American model.”
Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff https://t.co/GEY3QGegNw
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) June 11, 2026
[NOTE: The event was also sponsored by a donation from the Einhorn Collaborative (formerly Einhorn Family Foundation), “a foundation dedicated to advancing the science and practice of social connection and social cohesion to address America’s growing crisis of distrust and division.”]