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Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos should be prohibited from moderating any debates during the 2016 presidential campaign because of contributions he made to the Clinton Foundation.

Its impossible to divorce yourself from that, even if you try, Paul told The New York Times. I just think its really, really hard because hes been there, so close to them, that there would be a conflict of interest if he tried to be a moderator of any sort.

Stephanopoulostold the On Media blogon Thursday that he had given $75,000 to the Foundation between 2012 and 2014, a charitable contributionhe did not publicly disclose while reporting on the Clintons or their nonprofit organization.

"I made charitable donations to the Foundation in support of the work theyre doing on global AIDS prevention and deforestation, causes I care about deeply," Stephanopoulos said in his statement. "I thought that my contributions were a matter of public record. However, in hindsight, I should have taken the extra step of personally disclosing my donations to my employer and to the viewers on air during the recent news stories about the Foundation. I apologize."

ABC News issued a statement of support forStephanopoulos and said it would take no punitive action against him."We accept his apology," a spokesperson said. "It was an honest mistake."

Sen. Paul wasn't the only one to suggest thatStephanopoulos' donations and lack of disclosure made him unfit to report on the 2016 campaign. Conn Carroll, the communications director for Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, tweeted Thursday: "I'm not letting my boss go on @ABC until @GStephanopoulos recuses himself from all 2016 coverage."

Stephanopoulos is the chief anchor and chief political correspondent for ABC News, as well as the co-anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America" and host of "This Week," its Sunday morning public affairs program. Prior to joining ABC News, he served as communications director and senior adviser for policy and strategy to President Bill Clinton. He also served as communications director on Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.

CORRECTION: ABC News initially stated that GeorgeStephanopouloshad given a total of $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Inan interviewon Thursday afternoon, Stephanopoulos said he actually gave $75,000 over 2012, 2013 and 2014.

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Rand Paul: Stephanopoulos shouldn't moderate any 2016 ...