We didn't turn the lights off and neither did my staff. CNN producers did. It was time for my interview with @ DanaBashCNN - Team Rand ||||| Sen. Rand Paul walked out of a Guardian U.S. interview being conducted via the live streaming app Periscope on Friday. 
 
 Guardian reporter Paul Lewis was asking the Kentucky Republican and 2016 Republican presidential candidate about criminal justice reform. 
 
 "One more question for you, sorry we have to sometimes be a bit forceful, when you stand for president you get pressed and questioned and you understand that," Lewis said, before mentioning that at Paul's campaign launch on Tuesday he got an enthusiastic response to his calls for criminal justice reform. 
 
 "You're standing for the Republican nomination, all the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans who will determine the outcome of this race, don't think criminal law is applied in an unfair way, so how are you going to win the nomination with this..." Lewis asked before being cut off by Paul. 
 
 "I think your premise is incorrect," Paul said. "I think I can take that message into a white Evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give the exact same speech and be received well." 
 
 Lewis then tried to quote a recent Washington Post and ABC poll, before Paul pointed at him, looked at his staff, said something unintelligible and walked out. 
 
 Lewis got back in front of the camera to explain what happened when the lights in the room were turned off. 
 
 "So we got that interview cut off maybe it was because I was about to push him on the specific, oh the lights are off in fact, we're being told to go," Lewis said. "But the specifics of why Republicans, most of them don't think that criminal law is applied [unequally], two in three white Republicans say that according to a poll last week, would've been great to say that to Sen. Paul, the interview was cut short, but that's periscope." 
 
 Paul's team later tweeted "We didn't turn the lights off and neither did my staff. CNN producers did. It was time for my interview with [CNN's Dana Bash.]" 
 
 Lewis later tweeted that a CNN producer was the one to turn out the lights. 
 
 "Pleased Rand Paul gave us a live Periscope interview. Shame he didn't seem keen on answering specifics," Lewis wrote. 
 
 The incident is the latest in a string of testy interviews Paul has had with the media. Earlier this week he clashed with "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, accusing her of editorializing her questions. As we reported earlier this week, Paul is well known among members of the media for being an accessible candidate, but one with a particularly prickly demeanor that could continue to cause him trouble as the campaign continues. 
 
 UPDATE (4:10p.m.): 
 
 Paul spokesperson Sergio Gor explains the situation in an email: 
 
 Senator Paul had multiple interviews and the reporter knew we had limited time, that's why he told the reporter that he had time for one more question. When that question ended, he had to move to his next interview. We did not turn the lights off, that was CNN producers who were taping an interview right after and need a different look for the room. 
 
 Read more about: Rand Paul, Rand Paul 2016 ||||| While political candidates like Hillary Clinton and Rand Paul embrace technology in the 2016 presidential election, sometimes they're just not ready for prime time. 
 
 Case in point: The fiasco of Rand Paul's latest interview on Periscope, the live-streaming video app that broadcasts directly to Twitter. With the lightness and ease of home video, Periscope and its rival, Meerkat, work right from iPhones to capture moments that viewers love to see — but which political candidates may not want to share. 
 
 See also: The 9 most Rand Paul things Rand Paul has ever said 
 
 That was evident when Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul stalked off in a huff in the middle of a Periscope interview with The Guardian on Friday, leaving correspondent Paul Lewis to theorize about the candidate's sudden departure as the lights in the room went out. 
 
 It went about as well as some of Paul's other recent media interviews: In other words, not great. 
 
 Toward the end of his interview, The Guardian's Lewis began to ask about the candidate's campaign strategy with regard to law enforcement reform to prevent the killing of unarmed men. Lewis touched upon the sensitive point of evangelical Christians as Paul visibly tensed up. Lewis suggested that polls showed evangelical Christians oppose law enforcement reform, and asked Paul how he would square those two ideas. 
 
 "You're standing for the Republican nomination, all the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans who are going to determine the outcome of this race, don't think that the criminal law is applied in an unfair way. So how are you going to win the nomination with this group," Lewis said. 
 
 Paul, who almost cut off the end of Lewis's question, responded: "I think your premise is incorrect. I think that I can take that message into a white evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give exactly the same speech and be received well." 
 
 Lewis attempted to mount a follow-up question, but Paul abruptly left. As Lewis attempted to explain Paul's departure and wrap up the interview, the lights were shut off on him. 
 
 "It would have been great to put that question to Senator Paul. The interview was cut short, but that's Periscope," Lewis said. 
 
 Such are the risks of live media. According to a spokesperson for the the Guardian, the candidate had said he would answer one more question before the quick exit. 
 
 Lewis clarified that it was not Paul's people that turned the lights out. 
 
 In fairness to @RandPaul campaign, they didn't turn off the lights. (A CNN producer did.) Still: a shame he ended interview so abruptly. — Paul Lewis (@PaulLewis) April 10, 2015 
 
 We didn't turn the lights off and neither did my staff. CNN producers did. It was time for my interview with @DanaBashCNN - Team Rand — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 10, 2015 
 
 Still, it's not a great look for the Paul campaign, particularly in light of his recent difficulties with interviews. 
 
 The candidate, who is firmly in the middle of the pack in the race for the Republican nomination, is already gaining a reputation for being a hothead who bristles in response to questioning from journalists. 
 
 In February, Paul shushed CNBC anchor Kelly Evans during an interview about legislation that offered a tax holiday for companies that would bring cash back from overseas. Then, in early April, Paul got into a contentious exchange with Savannah Guthrie of the "Today" show over perceived changes in his stances on certain issues. 
 
 Days later, Paul was confronted about those interviews by Fox News's Megyn Kelly, who wondered if the candidate was "ready for primetime" due to his problems handling interviews. ||||| In an interview on the new smartphone app Periscope, the Republican presidential candidate discusses Hillary Clinton's Benghazi controversy, as well as his pending legislation that would seek reform for incidents such as the shocking police killing of a man in South Carolina last week. And then, pressed for details on Republican poll numbers, the Kentucky senator abruptly ends the interview by walking off the set.
– Rand Paul cut a media interview short yesterday and walked off when pressed over a specific issue—but it's not clear whether Paul was miffed or just out of time. Interviewing him over the app Periscope, Guardian reporter Paul Lewis asked whether the GOP presidential contender's passion for criminal justice reform will jibe with white Republicans: "All the research shows that Republicans, white Republicans ... don't think criminal law is applied in an unfair way, so how are you going to win the nomination with this," says Lewis. Paul cuts in, saying that "I think your premise is incorrect. I think I can take that message into a white Evangelical church anywhere in Iowa and give the exact same speech and be received well." Lewis tries to quote a couple of polls, but Paul points in his direction, says something hard to hear, and walks off. Soon the lights in Paul's room are turned off. "So we got that interview cut off maybe it was because I was about to push him on the specific, oh the lights are off in fact, we're being told to go," says Lewis. But Paul's people tweeted that it was CNN that turned the lights out, and the Guardian admits that Paul had said he only had time for one more question, Mashable reports. Yet Paul has struggled with other reporters recently, shushing CNBC anchor Kelly Evans and having a heated exchange with Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie. Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked him about it last month and wondered aloud whether he was "ready for primetime." See the Guardian interview here.