While some candidates in tonight’s Bloomberg/The Washington Post Republican Presidential Debate at Dartmouth College had a chance to respond to questions about the China currency manipulation bill that passed the Senate tonight, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) did not.

But in an exclusive interview with Raw Story, senior aide Jesse Benton responded both to the question and former Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) insistence that it’s important to “go to war” with China. Unsurprisingly, he said the Congressman strongly disagrees with both assertions.

“The last thing we need is to be egging on a trade war with China right now,” Benton asserted.