An explosive Senate committee meeting last week made headlines after Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) lashed out at immigration expert David Bier over what he called "hyperbolic” social media posts critical of the Trump administration, but on Monday, Bier revealed that he was taken aback by the GOP senator’s ill-prepared attacks.
“I am a little surprised that he seemed unprepared for his interrogation of me,” Bier told The Bulwark in a video interview. “He didn't really come with any arguments.”
The director of immigration studies for the CATO Institute, Bier testified before the Senate Budget Committee last week and was targeted by Kennedy over social media posts he’d made criticizing the Trump administration. Kennedy first quoted a social media post from Bier that championed a video published by several Democratic lawmakers last year, urging service members to refuse “illegal orders.”
“You posted: 'The Democrats' video telling service members to ignore illegal orders didn't go far enough, they should have also urged them to refuse unethical orders, whether illegal or not,'” Kennedy said, reading one of Bier’s social media posts. “Did I read that correctly?”
Bier confirmed to Kennedy that he had accurately read his social media post, and asked him whether he disagreed with the statement. Kennedy ignored Bier’s question and moved to read another of Bier’s social media posts, one that criticized a statement from the Department of Homeland Security that advocated for deporting 100 million immigrants from “the Third World,” a statement Bier labeled as an open call for “ethnic cleansing.”
Recalling the exchange to The Bulwark Monday, Bier said he was genuinely shocked at what he said was Kennedy’s unpreparedness, particularly in regards to the lawmaker’s lack of responses.
“I asked him 'do you disagree with that, do you think they should follow unethical orders that could be technically deemed illegal?' And he didn't respond!” Bier said. “He immediately transitioned on to the next question.”