John Kennedy, R-LA, has been grilling witnesses in a very effective manner.
He has an uncanny ability to find the weak points of Democratic witnesses and nominees.
It’s fair to say that the question he posed to a climate expert on Wednesday was a truly unique one, and not something you would expect to hear from a Senator.
From here on, there will be graphic language.
Kennedy questioned climate researcher Geoffrey Supran about posts on X. He is an associate professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Policy of the University of Miami. He studies “the history and propagandists of fossil fuel interests in climate disinformation.”
Kennedy questioned whether Kennedy supported the radical Climate Defiance group.
As I previously reported, the group targeted several politicians including Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – AK) in November. The group rushed onto the stage and hurled a banner at the audience. There was a huge struggle that sent people tumbling from the stage.
Kennedy pointed out that the group called Murkowski a “murderer,” and disrupted a meeting in which Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV was present. They called him a sick f**k.
BREAKING: we just called Joe Manchin a sick fuck. We humiliated him in front of a herd of Harvard elites. He squared up. We held firm. Barbaric murderer, hideous fiend, he torches humanity and laughs. pic.twitter.com/1ajrQsKnbJ
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) March 1, 2024
Kennedy asked Supran about a tweet that he had retweeted, “We CHASE CEOs of fossil fuel companies and politicians who follow their orders.”
We do not do online petitions. We do not do NGO coalition letters. We do not do fucking bus stop ads.
We CHASE fossil fuel CEOs and the politicians who do their bidding. And we do not apologize.
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) December 14, 2023
John Kennedy is a national treasure pic.twitter.com/o06GyaRD6G
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 1, 2024
Supran claimed that these were not his tweets, but “retweets.”
Kennedy asked if he retweeted anything he did not support.
Then, Supran clarified that he did not say he disapproved of the tweet. He simply didn’t post it.
Whoops. It’s not the best response to be scrambling for a way to distinguish between a tweet and a retweet. Retweeting a large group of people will make them wonder what’s going on inside your head. This is not going to go over well.
Supran did not like the question at all, and tried to respond by claiming “This type of character assassination (inaudible) is typical of the propaganda tactics of the fossil fuel industry.”
He retweeted them, but he never said that he supported them. How is this “character assassination”, or does he not want to stand behind what he tweets, and retweets?
Kennedy ended his speech with one last line since the time was over: “Are You Going to Call Me a Sick F**k?”
Oh, my. Talk about emphasizing your point by using an exclamation mark!