Sen. John Kennedy has made a career out of embarrassing witnesses in congressional hearings, but he met his match Tuesday with Cato Institute scholar David Bier, who came ready for combat.
“Your time is up,” Mr. Bier told the Louisiana Republican senator as the scholar sought to shut down a grilling at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over his immigration comments.
Mr. Kennedy had accused Mr. Bier of “hyperbolic” statements that sapped his credibility, and began reading some of them.
Among them was a social media post accusing Republicans of backing “ethnic cleansing” and arguing that military personnel shouldn’t only refuse unlawful orders, but unethical ones as well.
“Do you disagree with it? You think people should do unethical things?” Mr. Bier challenged.
The back-and-forth continued, with Mr. Kennedy reading a social media post where Mr. Bier blasted immigration officers “who hide behind masks” and praised “much braver” federal judges who have issued orders constraining what he called the administration’s “population purge agenda.”
“When I talk about population purge, I’m talking about the fact that they’re trying to deport U.S.-born citizens, people born here,” Mr. Bier said.
“What planet did you just parachute in from?” Mr. Kennedy said. “You trigger my gag reflex.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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