GOP Senator Draws Gasps for Shocking Attack on Muslim Witness: ‘You Should Hide Your Head in a Bag’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) badgered a Muslim witness during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and repeatedly asked her if she supports Hamas.

Maya Berry is the executive director of the Arab American Institute and testified about hate crimes in the U.S. In the hearing, Kennedy initiated a line of questioning in which he repeatedly suggested she supports Hamas. The senator appeared irked at Berry’s past criticism of the U.S. for pulling funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, or UNRWA. Israel accused a handful of workers in the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. An extensive U.N. investigation found that nine of its more than 30,000 employees may have been involved in the attacks. It is the only intergovernmental organization that provides funding to Gaza.

Kennedy began by noting Berry’s biography on her organization’s website, which describes her as “a longtime Democratic Party activist who served as a member of the 2016 Democratic National Convention’s Platform Standing Committee.”

“Is that correct?” Kennedy asked.

“That’s correct,” Berry replied. The senator then asked a series of questions that drew audible gasps from the crowd. Kennedy asked if she supports Hamas, to which Berry responded that she does not. Despite this, the senator kept insisting she had not answered the question:

KENNEDY: You support Hamas, do you not?

BERRY: Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today–

KENNEDY: Let’s start first with a yes or no.

BERRY: Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support. But you asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country.

[APPLAUSE]

KENNEDY: Well, I got your answer and I appreciate it. What is the– you support Hezbollah, too, don’t you?

BERRY: Again, I find this line of questioning extraordinarily disappointing.

KENNEDY: Is that a no?

BERRY: You have Arab American constituents that you represent in your great state–

KENNEDY: Yes, ma’am. I understand that. But my time’s limited and I apologize. But it’s not a yes or a no.

BERRY: Yes or no to a question, “Do I support Hezbollah?” The answer is I don’t support violence, whether it’s Hezbollah, Hamas, or any other entity that invokes it. So no, Sir.

KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say no, can you?

BERRY: I can say no. I can say yes. What I can say is–

[CROSSTALK]

KENNEDY: Do you support or oppose Iran and their hatred of Jews?

BERRY: Again, I’m going to emphasize Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas – none of them is going to–

KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say no, can you?

BERRY: Sir, I don’t support them.

KENNEDY: It’s real simple.

BERRY: Excuse me–

[CROSSTALK]

BERRY: As a Muslim woman, Sir, I’m going to tell you, I do not support Iran. But what I will tell you is that this conversation–

KENNEDY: I’m running out of time. You called our decision to cut funding

[YELLING IN AUDIENCE]

CHAIRMAN DICK DURBIN: [SLAMS GAVEL]: Please.

KENNEDY: You called our decision to cut funds– well, first, what’s the United Nations Relief and Works Agency?

BERRY: It’s UNRWA, which is the institution that exists to provide services and aid to the nearly six million Palestinian refugees.

KENNEDY: And you called our decision to cut funding for them, quote, “an incredible moral failure,” closed quote.

BERRY: That is absolutely correct. But again, I would suggest that conversation is about foreign policy.

KENNEDY: And we did that because nine UNRWA staff members were fired for actually helping Hamas on October 7th, isn’t that the case?

BERRY: I don’t believe that that’s correct–

KENNEDY: You support Hamas, don’t you? You support UNRWA and Hamas, don’t you?

[YELLING IN AUDIENCE]

DURBIN: [SLAMS GAVEL] Please.

BERRY: I think it’s exceptionally disappointing that you’re looking at an Arab American witness before you and saying you support Hamas. I do not support Hamas.

KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say–

BERRY: I don’t support Hamas.

KENNEDY: –you don’t support UNRWA, you don’t support Hamas, you don’t support–

BERRY: I was very clear in my support for UNRWA.

KENNEDY: You should hide your head in a bag.

Kennedy’s gauche parting shot drew groans from the audience.

Afterward, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee posted a video of Berry speaking at some length about the treatment she just received.

“I do hope that my testimony today has been helpful to understanding the need to respond to hate,” she said to applause.

Watch above via C-SPAN.