Republican presidential candidate Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s newly-released advertisement targeting his rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been decried as “bizarre” by various news outlets. His advertisement, however, was inspired by a viral cartoon.
Paul’s advertisement pays homage to the “Quantitative Easing Explained” video that went viral in libertarian communities. In the video, the two characters discuss the Federal Reserve’s “quantitative easing” policy, “the Ben Bernank,” and “the Goldman Sachs”:
Similarly, Paul’s latest video features the same question-and-answer format to discuss Cruz’s missed “audit the Fed” vote and his relationship with “the Goldman Sachs”:
The original “Quantitative Easing Explained” video received over 5 million YouTube views since it was released in 2010.