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Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy has released a new campaign ad in his run for re-election that is causing a stir even outside state lines.
This article first appeared on Salon.
In the 30-second ad, Kennedy speaks in a stern voice to the camera saying "Violent crime is surging in Louisiana. Woke leaders blame the police. I blame the criminals. A mom should not have to look over her shoulder when she's pumping gas. I voted against the early release of violent criminals and I opposed defunding the police. Look, if you hate cops just because they're cops, the next time you get in trouble, call a crackhead."
In a recent interview with Fox News, Kennedy says "If we wanna get control of this crime problem that we have, we're gonna have to do a couple of things. We're gonna have to hire more cops. New Orleans and my state need 2,000 cops on the street. We've got less than 1,000."
\u201cI know the difference between criminals and their innocent victims.\u201d— John Neely Kennedy (@John Neely Kennedy) 1664546700
In the interview, Kennedy goes on to list further plans for action citing the need to pay cops a proper wage.
"You're not gonna get cops to work in this woke environment without paying them."
General response to Kennedy's campaign ad and earlier statements made regarding Louisiana crime vary from shock and disbelief to reminders of ways in which he hasn't practiced what he's preaching.
"We have to address violent crime," Democratic challenger Luke Mixon said in a statement obtained from Nola.com. "We do that by funding our police departments. Sen. Kennedy voted against $350 billion in funding for local police departments. To paraphrase Sen. Kennedy, watch what people do, not just their embarrassing one-liners."
"So senator Kennedy from the great state of Louisiana said that if you don't like police to call a crackhead when you need help," says US Army combat veteran Kevin Smith on Twitter. "They seriously believe that we actually need police and it's hilarious!"
Although crime in Louisiana has been an ongoing issue, locals are often left grappling with a dwindling "do nothing" police force. In one example of this, a New Orleans deputy constable was suspended in August for failing to respond to calls for help regarding a rape case.
On the night of the crime, which took place on July 26, a woman phoned 911 after witnessing another woman being raped in plain view on the street in the French Quarter.
"Actually, there's a police officer in front of me now," the woman told the dispatcher, via reporting by The Washington Post. "I mean, this police officer isn't even moving — he's still just parked here."
"He's gone. This … cop is still a block away . . . and this girl got raped in the street corner. There is a cop a block away."
Although the officer accused of ignoring the woman's calls for help wasn't a member of the New Orleans Police Department but rather a deputy constable with the Second City Court, according to The Washington Post, the woman also claimed to have seen two more police officers drive past the scene without offering assistance.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Sunday Show," former U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal claimed Donald Trump's legal defense over the stolen government documents the FBI confiscated at Mar-a-Lago is falling apart and he then predicted the Department of Justice would make a decision on where to go next by the end of the year.
Speaking with Jonathan Capehart, Katyal surprised the host with his certainty that an indictment is on the horizon.
Making his case, Katyal explained, "It's all in the favor of the Justice Department. Donald Trump has played his cards really, really poorly, trying to seek the special master and the special master attempt has spectacularly backfired on him."
"The judge who is overseeing the special master [Raymond Dearie], Judge Cannon, she tried to stop the Justice Department from looking at any of the documents, including the hundred or so most highly sensitive national security, nuclear secrets information. She said you couldn't look at it for the criminal investigation and the Justice Department took out a swift appeal of that and got it reversed within a millisecond."
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He later added, "I think the most telling thing is we are seven weeks after that search into Mar-a-Lago, and Donald Trump has never provided one explanation ever for what in the world he was doing with these very highly sensitive documents involving nuclear secrets, human spies, things like that."
"Where things are in that process?" the MSNBC host asked.
"The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion to say, we want to appeal this whole question of a special master, because Jonathan, you don't get a special master if you're a normal person ever," Katyal explained. "And Judge Cannon said the reason why he gets one is because he's the former president -- that is not exactly a powerful legal reasoning. And so the department has said to the Court of Appeals, please hear our case right now."
"I think the department is basically saying, 'Look, we've had it with Judge Cannon; she is erratic and on principles her orders are obviously wrong and the department knows that the ruling from the Court of Appeals, despite how conservative that court is, is more likely to come out in the Justice Department's favor and allow for the criminal investigation in full to proceed unfettered," he elaborated. "And I suspect the culmination at the end of the day, Jonathan, is that Donald Trump will be indicted by the Justice Department."
"Care to tell us when you think that might be?" Capehart pressed.
"It depends a little bit on how fast this appeal can take place," the legal analyst replied. "I think it can take place pretty quickly, and by the end of December, I think we could get a decision there which will tee up the question about when to indict in the winter of 2023."
Watch below or at the link:
MSNBC 10 02 2022 11 00 41 youtu.be
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) refused six opportunities to condemn racist and violent rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
CBS host Margaret Brennan spoke to Scott a day after Greene told supporters at a Trump rally that Democrats are "killing" Republicans. Brennan pointed out that Trump has used similar language and has made racist remarks about Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) wife.
"Do you rebuke those comments?" the CBS host asked.
"Well, I think what we've got to do is we've got to bring everybody together," Scott replied, refusing to even acknowledge the violent and racist remarks.
RELATED: 'Unhinged, deranged' Trump 'may be a danger' to himself and others: GOP strategist
"What I quoted you is a phrase saying McConnell has a death wish," Brennan noted. "He said racist things about Elaine Chao. And then they have already started the killings. I mean, that's not a policy dispute, Senator. The language is what I'm talking about."
"Isn't that dangerous?" she pressed.
"I think — I — I think we all have to figure out how do we start bringing people together," Scott repeated, "and have a common goal to give every American the opportunity to get a great job, their kids to have an education [where] they believe they can be anything and make sure everybody lives in a safe community."
The senator refused a total of six opportunities to refute the violent and racist rhetoric during the interview, which lasted less than four minutes.
Watch the video below or at the link:
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