If there’s one senator who stands out for his ability to probe Biden nominees and Democratic witnesses effectively, it’s Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana. Known for his adept questioning, he has a knack for highlighting inconsistencies and shortcomings in their arguments, often injecting humor into the process.
The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on Wednesday about the “climate-driven insurance crisis.” Sen. Kennedy grilled Dr. Benjamin Keys, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at Wharton who was a witness for the Democrats. It did not go well. Kennedy asked him about an essay he wrote for The NY Times, the title of which was “Climate Change Should Make You Rethink Home Ownership.” Kennedy asked him if he owned a home.
Brought to you today by Senate Democrats: A climate extremist who tells people to sell their homes . . . but still lives in his. pic.twitter.com/noeEnx3347
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) December 18, 2024
Keys said he did and confessed it was in a flood zone.
“Have you sold it?” Kennedy cheekily asked.
Keys said, no, “I live in my home.” I’m not sure he got what Kennedy was doing pointing out he still lived in his home.
“Well, you’re telling everyone else to sell theirs,” Kennedy observed.
But he wasn’t done yet. Kennedy asked him if he was a climate or political extremist. Keys denied it.
Kennedy asked him about a tweet in July 2024 that Kennedy said Keys made which said Democrats biggest problem was they “don’t know how to talk to low information morons.” Keys said he didn’t believe those were his words. He said he didn’t believe he had tweeted those words. He said he might have retweeted or liked someone else’s tweet.
That got Kennedy going.
“Do you often like the tweets you don’t agree with?” Kennedy asked.
“Those were not my words,” Keys insisted.
“You can’t make this cat walk backwards,” Kennedy finally declared.
Oof, now that’s an instant classic in the Kennedy catalog of wit. People on X just loved it.
Earlier in the week, Kennedy had skewered NCAA President Charlie Baker on the issue of trans athletes.
First, he got Baker to admit such athletes who compete against women in sports have an advantage after Baker said it was “debatable.” Then in a heated exchange, Kennedy asked Baker, “Why don’t you go onto Amazon and buy a spine online and take a stand?” when Baker insinuated that the NCAA didn’t have any choice in how they could respond on the issue because the courts supposedly haven’t been clear on the issue.
He also recently took down Hollywood types for their insults of Trump supporters in an epic Thanksgiving message and urged Trump supporters to “stay deplorable.”
