The New York Times profile of Ron and Rand Paul notes, "When his son faced criticism recently over comments that some interpreted as skeptical of federal civil rights laws, the congressman was shaken."
Some interpreted? Paul told the Louisville Courier-Journal:
I don't like the idea of telling private business owners --I abhor racism, I think it's a bad business decision to ever exclude anybody from your restaurant, but at the same time I do believe in private ownership.
Over the next couple days, he declined over and over again to endorse the whole of the Civil Rights Act, repeatedly supplying answers that implied opposition to any government regulation of private discrimination without being willing to say so explicitly. It's shocking to see such a weaselly description in a newspaper that some interpret as The New York Times.