Republican Senator Makes an Ass of Himself by Getting Personal with Fox News Host

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) became unnecessarily confrontational and personal during an interview with Neil Cavuto on Monday’s edition of Your World .

At issue was the political wisdom of launching degrading personal attacks against the first woman of color to be nominated for president by a major party.

Kennedy, a graduate of the University of Oxford (yes, that Oxford) took his I’m-just-a-simple-country-lawyer routine to Fox News again, where he took potshots at Vice President Kamala Harris . The presumptive presidential nominee has markedly improved Democrats’ chances of retaining the White House after President Joe Biden announced he will not seek reelection amid foundering poll numbers thanks to last month’s disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump . Last week, Fox News released several battleground state surveys showing Harris and Trump within the margin of error of each other. Despite the tight race, Kennedy kept insisting to Cavuto that “the American people” think Harris is nuts.

“She’s a member of the loon wing of the Democratic Party,” said Kennedy, who could pass for the lovechild of Matlock and Foghorn Leghorn.

Cavuto initiated a line of questioning about tactics – specifically how demeaning Harris might backfire on Republicans. After all, Trump trails Harris by 14 percentage points among likely women voters. Ergo, trashing her on matters other than policy might be a politically risky endeavor.

“What’s the difference between the loon wing and being a loon?” Cavuto asked. “The only reason why I’m saying it is, if that is so – and you have a lot of American people who have now taken another look at her, and maybe it’s short-lived, to your point senator. She is running even with Donald Trump. And I’m just wondering about the approach you’re taking. And it’s very artful, don’t get me wrong. And you raise a lot of substantive issues. It’s gonna come back to bite your heinies, isn’t it? Aren’t you concerned about that?”

“I’m telling you what I think the American people think,” Kennedy replied.

Cavuto then reiterated that Harris and Trump are essentially even in national polls and in battleground states. The senator insisted a deeper dive into the polls – whose publishers he declined to cite – shows that Americans think the vice president is a dope.

“The polling that I’ve seen shows that many Americans think that the vice president is not a serious person,” Kennedy said. “As I said, that she’s a bit of a ding dong. And number two, that she is a member of the loony wing of the Democratic Party.”

Cavuto continued to press Kennedy on his personal attacks against the vice president:

CAVUTO: I’m just wondering how you think that will resonate with women when you know, she is called nasty and crazy and a ding dong and all in this disrespectful between you and the president, what has been said about her. I’m just wondering, do you worry how that comes across? And maybe you draw no distinction between a female candidate and a male one, and that’s fair game, but that this could hurt you with female voters with these type of comments.

KENNEDY: Well, let me let me say it again. The vice president is a candidate for president of the United States. I don’t care about her gender. Neil, maybe you do, but I don’t. I don’t care about her race. I care about her competence.

Kennedy was clearly irked by Cavuto’s questions, but they are completely valid. Even if you are a Republican who thinks Harris is a “ding dong,” you should stop to consider whether having prominent members of your party say so publicly might prevent the outcome you wish to see in the election.

In fact, several prominent Republicans have warned against such attacks. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said members of Congress who have been calling Harris a “DEI candidate,” for example, are “wrong in their own instincts.” And the current speaker even held a meeting among members last week to advise them to avoid personal attacks.

“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters afterward in a bit of wish-casting.

Undeterred, Cavuto went on pressing his guest on tactics. But the senator continued to baselessly suggest that the host’s questions were driven by a personal agenda grounded in hurt feelings. In doing so, Kennedy made an ass of himself:

CAVUTO: Then why call her a “ding dong”?

KENNEDY: I’m telling you what the polling shows. I’m telling you what the polling shows, and it does. And I’ll be glad to sit down with you and and and walk you through the polls.

CAVUTO: Please, please do because I never know when it’s constructive to call people names. You know, Senator? I just don’t know, on the left or the right.

KENNEDY: I’m sorry, I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings. But let me say it again–

CAVUTO: Senator, you keep bringing it back to my feelings. My feelings matter little. All I’m telling you is if you think you can gain this November, calling people names, I don’t know how far that goes – left or right, but we’ll see. It’s still early.

KENNEDY: So your feelings seem to me like they matter to you a lot, Neil. And I’m trying to be objective here. Let me let me say it again–

CAVUTO: Are you really? Are you really being objective, Senator? I just think you got a bash-a-thon, and name-calling at her. If you call that being objective, I don’t know. But, Senator, I thank you. Thank you for coming,” he added, ending the interview.

KENNEDY: Well, thank you for having me, Neil. I hope you have a better day.

CAVUTO: Yeah. So do I, hope you have a better day. We’ll have more after this.

I neither know nor care how Neil Cavuto feels toward Kamala Harris or any other candidate. But I do know his questions were eminently reasonable. And instead of dismissing them as silly, Republicans might want to find out the answers before November 5.

Watch above via Fox News.