--- --- # Rand Paul Says Donald Trump Is Gollum by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 20, 2016 3:21 PM UTC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 20, 2016 3:21 PM UTC Rand Paul has [compared his rival Donald Trump to Gollum](https://www.facebook.com/notes/rand-paul/electing-gollum-should-not-be-our-objective/10154006377868054?%5Frdr=p), the character from _The Lord of the Rings_ and _The Hobbit_ who is obsessed and corrupted by the power of the One Ring. “One candidate on this national stage wants you to give him power,” Paul wrote in a [Facebook note](https://www.facebook.com/notes/rand-paul/electing-gollum-should-not-be-our-objective/10154006377868054?%5Frdr=p) posted on Wednesday. “He tells you he is rich, so he must be smart. If you give him power he claims he will fix America, but there is another tradition in America. A tradition that believes that power corrupts, and that our goal should be not to gain power but to contain power or limit Presidential power.” “This race should not be about who can grasp the [ring](http://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/),” he continued. “Electing [Gollum](http://time.com/4132235/tayyip-erdogan-turkey-gollum-lord-of-the-rings/) should not be our objective. This race should be about which candidate will best protect you from an overbearing government.” Rand Paul Says Donald Trump Is Gollum ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4186728/rand-paul-donald-trump-gollum/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4186728/rand-paul-donald-trump-gollum/"},"headline":"Rand Paul Says Donald Trump Is Gollum","datePublished":"2016-01-20T15:21:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:17:00.438Z","description":"\"This race should not be about who can grasp the ring. Electing Gollum should not be our objective\"","url":"https://time.com/4186728/rand-paul-donald-trump-gollum/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4186728/rand-paul-donald-trump-gollum/","name":"Rand Paul Says Donald Trump Is Gollum"}}]}] ```