Earlier this week, Senator John Kennedy insinuated that Saule Omarova, Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, was a communist because she just happens to have been born in then-Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Kennedy snidely addressed Omarova saying, “I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade.”
Now, the good ol’ boy Congressman was publicly dragged for his intentional ignorance with Omarova delivering a fairly scathing rebuke and social media piling on, accusing him of insulting the law professor so he could score some time on Fox News. Well, he did end up appearing on the cable network, though why he wanted to bring up the hearing and his embarrassing performance is anyone’s guess.
Kennedy tried to explain his behavior to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer and ended up spinning a tale that, believe it or not, makes him look even worse than his blatant McCarthyism.
“I asked her if she had ever been a member of the communist party,” Kennedy told Hemmer of the incident. “And then [Senate Banking Chairman] Sherrod Brown went crackbrained on me and tried to stop me from asking questions and I told him to shut up.”
Kennedy went on to accuse Biden of nomination a “neo-socialist” before ranting about why it’s practically un-American for anyone to question our current banking system.
“I just think the American people are entitled to know that the president has nominated somebody to regulate our banks who believes, as she said in getting rid of banks, and she has been a member of the communist party,” Kennedy said.
John Kennedy has no regrets over his terrible line of questioning to Saule Omarova pic.twitter.com/ilRrOgxE6K
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2021
Maybe it’s not such a good idea for a man who somehow believes it’s still 1954 to be on Capitol Hill.
(Via Mediaite)