Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is the king of the one-liners. From press conferences to Senate hearings, the man knows how to deliver a zinger that often destroys liberal talking points. Now, I’m not sure doing this during a presser about the horrific ISIS-inspired terror attack in New Orleans was proper, but Kennedy will do whatever he pleases. Also, what’s done is done, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as Gov. Jeff Landry’s post about steak dinners.
The senator wanted a simple answer from the reporters: who did they work for? It’s not a malicious question, given the room where everyone was clumped together. When he turned to the woman on the right, she replied that she was with NBC News, which led to Kennedy saying, “That’s an unusual position.”
Reporter: NBC is here on the right
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 1, 2025
Kennedy: That’s an unusual position
Reporter: I don’t get it
Kennedy; You wouldn’t pic.twitter.com/wYxDDIz0Gf
“I don’t get it,” replied the reporter.
“You wouldn’t,” said Kennedy.
Everyone else got the joke: NBC News is seldom on the right of anything with their coverage.
Kennedy promised a full and transparent investigation into this attack, where all details would be known, or he’d “raise fresh hell.”
“For those people who don't believe in objective evil all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning,” he said.
US SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA):
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 1, 2025
THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS DESERVE THE TRUTH, AND WE WILL DEMAND THE WHOLE TRUTH FROM OUR FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
Louisiana @SenJohnKennedy promises the public, when the investigation is complete, "you'll find out what happened, and who was responsible, or I'll raise fresh hell."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 1, 2025
Louisiana @SenJohnKennedy: "For those people who don't believe in objective evil all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 1, 2025
REPORTER: "Are you getting the sense that there is any threat of any other potential attacks tonight on any other major cities?"
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 1, 2025
SEN. KENNEDY: "I can't answer that—I can—but I won't."pic.twitter.com/9XaNoEQqGr
He had a much better time with the media than Gov. Landry:
I am a reporter, and I am biased in this regard. But if a public official—for whatever reason—cannot answer a pertinent question after a terror attack or a disaster then say you can’t answer. Don’t threaten to shut the press conference down at the expense of the public.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 1, 2025
On New Year’s Day, around 3:15am local time, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a Houston native, ran down pedestrians on Bourbon Street and proceeded to open fire into the crowd. Fourteen people were killed. Jabbar was later gunned down by police, who discovered IEDs around the French Quarter and in the Ford truck he used in the assault.