Latest news with #Senator
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Republican senator flippantly fires back after shocking on-air freezing episode goes viral
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy made a triumphant return to the cable news pantheon Wednesday afternoon, after he froze during an appearance on the same Fox Business show Tuesday. Kennedy brushed off concerns about his health that had been generated by Tuesday's segment in his usual jovial fashion, while Fox host Larry Kudlow helped him debunk the myths that were started by yesterday's incident. 'A lot of lefty media are saying things they shouldn't say. As I understand it, what happened was your IFB, your wire broke down. And you had a lot of noise in your ear. And you had to stop talking because you couldn't get anything through,' Kudlow said, kicking off the exchange. 'I was just yapping away, and all of a sudden my ear piece blew up,' Kennedy said, pointing to his right ear. He described the sound as like 'a 747 taking off' and said his ears were still ringing. Kennedy dismissed speculation about his health, saying some publications have suggested he 'had a brain freeze live on TV, or a stroke, or caught an STD.' 'I'm ok. I'm back here today, I'm full of piss and vinegar and I'd be glad to answer your questions,' the Senator concluded. The moment when Kennedy suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence during his television appearance has been widely circulated online over the past 24 hours. Kennedy was speaking about the Trump administration's stance on sanctuary cities when the concerning moment occurred. The senator began to trail off while referencing how Jesus loves immigrants. 'Jesus loves them, but everybody else thinks ….' Kennedy said, before mumbling a few barely-audible words. 'Everybody else thinks…' he repeated before looking off into the distance and going completely silent. Kennedy remained motionless on camera with his lips parted and eyes staring forward until host Larry Kudlow cut in, attributing the moment to a technical issue. The senator's office disputed initial reporting about the incident, saying there was simply an earpiece malfunction that also affected Senator Rand Paul, who was interviewed before Kennedy. "I heard a loud screeching noise with a lot of static. It sounded like a 747 taking off," Kennedy explained in a statement. "I stopped talking until the interference cleared up, and thought we were off the air." Kennedy criticized The Daily Beast's coverage, saying the media outlet failed to contact Kudlow's producer to verify the technical explanation.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP Senator, 73, Freezes During Fox Business Interview
Another GOP member of Congress has had what appears to be a health scare, with septuagenarian Senator John Kennedy freezing during a Fox Business interview on Tuesday. During an interview with host Larry Kudlow, 77, about the Trump administration's crackdown on sanctuary cities, Kennedy started to make a point about how Jesus loves immigrants before trailing off into a seven-second silence. 'Jesus loves them, but everybody else thinks,' Kennedy said before murmuring a couple more words and then freezing on camera. Kennedy appeared to be unable to form words, and he remained on screen for five more seconds in silence before Kudlow cut in and chalked up the awkward gap to a technical issue. 'I guess we had some more technical problems. That was the same mic we lost with Senator Rand Paul,' Kudlow said. Kennedy had not spoken any words after freezing up. A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to an immediate request for comment. Kennedy's official account on X posted twice after the interview aired, once to criticize Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and once to congratulate a New Orleans Saints football player on his retirement. The sight of a gray-haired senator freezing during an interview is a familiar one for the GOP caucus. In 2023, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered two similar 'freezing episodes' just weeks apart from each other. While observing neurologists initially suspected that McConnell may have suffered a transient ischemic attack — a type of stroke — the Capitol physician wrote in a statement that the Kentuckian's episodes showed 'no evidence' of a stroke or seizure disorder. Ironically, Kennedy was one of the Senate Republicans who immediately dismissed suggestions that McConnell step down as majority leader, saying that would take place only 'when donkeys fly.' McConnell announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election in 2026. Kennedy, who is known in the Senate for his distinctive Southern drawl and acerbic commentary during hearings, has not commented on whether he will pursue re-election in 2028. He passed on running for governor of Louisiana in 2023. Health problems have emerged as a major point of tension for both parties over the past year, from scrutiny of Joe Biden's cognition during his presidency to President Trump's recent diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency. Kennedy does not even crack the list of the 10 oldest senators (the oldest, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, is 91).
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Sen. Smith admitted to hospital in Washington, D.C., 'out of an abundance of caution'
The Brief Minnesota Senator Tina Smith is spending the night at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Staff say the senator "started to not feel well" during her work at the Capitol. A Capitol physician recommended she undergo a more thorough examination. WASHINGTON, D.C. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Senator Tina Smith will spend Wednesday night at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on the advice of a Capitol physician. Tina Smith admitted to hospital What they're saying The senator "started to not feel well" while working in the Capitol on Wednesday, her staff said in a social media post. She then went to a Capitol physician who recommended more thorough examinations for her at George Washington University Hospital. Staff say Sen. Smith is being kept at the hospital overnight "out of an abundance of caution." The post, attributed to the senator's staff, can be viewed below: The Source This story uses information shared in a social media post from Tina Smith's official X account. Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Sen. Tillis on Rescissions Package, Not Seeking Reelection
Live on Bloomberg TV CC-Transcript 00:00Does this rescissions package have your hard yes vote? Will it have enough votes to pass in final passage? Yeah. I had actually indicated that I was a lean years before the amendment came out. The main thing that's important about this bill is to make sure that the questions from members who have not yet decided on how they're going to vote get answered. Are there there are commitments that those broad authority that they're providing the administration to make cuts is not going to surprise them in the future. The reason that's important is this is a spiced $9 billion bill. I hate to dismiss the concept of 9 billion, but there's a promise of tens of billions of dollars in rescissions that I hope that we're voting on in the future as a result of some of the government efficiency efforts. And we do not want to erode the support for future rescissions packages by not getting this small one right. It's a great test case, and that's why I'm inclined to support it. This apparently is a test case for some Democrats as well. Senator, it's your point in the grand scheme, $9 billion is a drop in the bucket and a lot of Democrats say you will lose support from any members across the aisle when it comes to crafting a budget for the new fiscal year. Doesn't clawing back congressionally approved funding send the message to Democrats that they can't trust a deal if there is one on spending? I think it's a fair argument, which is exactly what the the advisers, the president's advisers on where these cuts hit really should fit in the category of of fraud or waste or abuse. If you use this with the general support from Republicans to rescind measures that may have been used to negotiate a budget deal in the past, then why on earth would they risk that while on earth would they trust us in the future? So I think getting it right is very important. What I'm talking about our future rescissions votes that I hope that are sent to us and we process like the one before us today. What you're talking about is basic trust. And if we negotiate an appropriate year end appropriations deal that the Democrats feel like they the spirit of that negotiation is not going to be undone with a future rescission. I think that'd be a huge mistake. I can't imagine the president would intuitively want to do it. Hopefully none of his advisers would encourage them that that's a good idea. It's a bad idea. Well, as it may take Democratic cooperation to get appropriations passed, it also will take Democratic cooperation to get crypto legislation through both chambers. As I'm sure you well know, Senator, the House has dubbed it Crypto Week, and yet it seems they're struggling to advance a package of bills, one that would be the genius Act that already passed the chamber, another being the Clarity Act market structure legislation. It seems that the holdouts who did not vote for this procedural advancement are concerned that they cannot make changes to the Genius act that you and your colleagues passed. If they do so, would it be able to pass the Senate once again? Would you do anything if they're able to pass the Clarity Act with it, or would that require change as well? I'm just my Republican colleagues in the House need to hear this. I was one of the four members that teamed up with four Democrats to pass Senate Bill 2155, which was regulatory tailoring for small and regional banks. We had an agreement that that bill wasn't going to change, and we carried it all the way through, over the objections of Sherrod Brown, the chair, and Elizabeth Warren on the Banking Committee. If our House members send an amended bill back to us that doesn't fit, or is it already pre-conference with the Democrats who helped us pass that bill out, they can expect that that bill will never see the light of day. So I respect that they may want to make some changes, but they may want to send that in a separate vehicle to us and go ahead and send the Genius Act to the president's desk. If they don't, then they may own they the responsibility for not getting that done. And it's a great start, but we've got a lot of work to do. And, of course, Senator, you also found yourself on the same side as many Democrats in voting against the president's so-called big, beautiful bill. And it led to a major decision for you to decide to bring your Senate career to a close here. President Trump talked about your vote here. If you didn't hear what he said, let's bring it to our listeners and viewers here on Bloomberg. Tell us. I guess it was an owl, right? He was an owl. And he they said he was brave. He said no to the president, but he resigned the following morning. So anyway, that was terrible, I thought. Senator, weigh in on that as you please. That was from yesterday at the White House, by the way. Have you talked to President Trump? Has he called you or have you called him since that happened? Oh, we haven't spoken since. But the president knew that night before. Number one, that I was a no because I told him personally. And number two, I told him now would be a good time to start looking for my replacement. And it was after that that the president posted that he'd be seeking, you know, interviews for my replacement. But I was pretty clear with the president, unless he forgot that discussion the night before, I noticed he was trying to check to see if I voted no, but I was pretty clear I was going to be a no. The reason I was a no. And the reason it was so difficult for me is the vast majority that Bill I supported. I was here to vote for jobs and tax cuts, and I wanted that back in place. There were a number of provisions. The House bill for the Medicaid market was fine, but here's my challenge to anyone. We have fully released our analysis of the hit of the Medicaid bill that the president signed on July 4th. I would love nothing more than somebody to do the work to discredit the analysis. This this is it words. This is math. We did the math. We have three independent assessments that came to the same conclusion. This is going to be very difficult for states like North Carolina and many others to absorb. We already have a member today. I think it was Josh Hawley who's filing a bill to try and fix the Medicaid damage that he voted on last week. I decided that what we ought to do is go back to the house, Mark, great work, work requirements. The $800 billion in savings. Waste, fraud and abuse. The whole difference between me and the president came down to something that somebody in the White House suggested that the Senate put in the bill that saved 200 billion more dollars. But it's going to cost this country and potentially this party elections next year, in the coming years, as it gets implemented. It just seemed like it wasn't very well thought out. And I think the president was given bad advice to put it into the bill. Well, I wonder, Senator, if we should expect there to be more differences between you and President Trump or the majority leader, for that matter, as you said, when you decided not to seek reelection, that it gives you the freedom to call balls and strikes? Are you still a reliable Republican? Yes. Vote. Yeah. A lot of effort that happens from here. I need to be very clear. I am a transaction person. What I wanted to make clear was that if anybody thought that my decisions are driven by whether or not I can get reelected or get an endorsement, I wanted to take that off the table. That's not how I operate. I am a trained management consultant who looks at everything that we do here through the lens of execution. Will this work? Can the states absorb the change? Is it in the best interest of our country and our party in that order? And in my judgment, it was in every future transaction will not be influenced by this Medicaid vote. Hopefully, we can fix a lot of the damage that occurred by rushing it through for a 4th of July signature. But I'm on to the next transaction and I will do everything I can to try and make the defects in that bill work. Or, like I said, the U.S. government has probably access to more research capability than anyone else. Don't tell me that my estimates are wrong because you believe they're wrong. We provided all this information, the methodology for the impact, disprove it. I'd love nothing more than to know that I was wrong, because that means I don't have a lot of work to do to get North Carolina ready to potentially take 663 people, thousand people, off of Medicaid in a couple of years. Sure. Well, Senator, a lot of people think that that makes you one of the more brave members of the Senate right now. We had Democrats calling this a profile in courage. And I wonder, with that said, what that means when President Trump reaches out, when John Thune reaches out, will this be the same conversation when they need your support for legislation? How does this change your view? The only thing that I've tried to encourage the president, I've seen several and said, look, the president of the United States has a difficult job. He can't possibly be expected to be an expert in any area. What I'm trying to advise him on is that he has people advising him who pretend like they're him when he's not in the office and sometimes are not thinking through policy. I happen to have the rare combination of execution discipline with Fortune 500 companies and 20 years in legislative service, including Speaker of the House. So I've been able to understand the execution maybe a little bit better than other people, certainly people who have never been elected and who have never had a political role before, who advising the president. I'm just simply saying, take my advice for what it's worth, but it may help you look around a few corners. And I think that that's where we'll ultimately end up on this Medicaid provision in an otherwise big, beautiful bountiful. Old baby Bill. Whatever they want to call it. The fact of the matter is, most of the bill is good. I was talking about this one area that it ended up getting into that over $200 billion. We ended up having that sort of a dust up. It doesn't make sense to me. But again, I don't think it was the president's call. I think he had somebody want to put their foot on the accelerator. And I respectfully disagree with that. That was.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ted Cruz pictured sightseeing in Greece despite claim he returned to Texas floods 'as fast as humanly possible'
Pictures have emerged of Senator Ted Cruz sightseeing in Greece a day after devastating floods hit his home state, killing at least 119 people. The 54-year-old lawmaker was pictured at the Parthenon in Athens on Saturday alongside his family after the deadly flooding ravaged Texas. One fellow holidaymaker pulled him up on not being back in Texas, telling The Daily Beast they approached Cruz and his family. The source said: 'He was with his family and a lone security guard. As he walked past us, I simply said, "20 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation?"' Cruz ' grunted' in response to the questioning, while his wife Heidi shot the fellow tourist 'a dirty look', they told the outlet. Cruz's office previously said in a statement that he had returned from Greece 'as fast as humanly possible' after the floods struck on Friday. He eventually departed on a flight on Sunday, but flight tracking data indicates that he could have potentially left sooner, with multiple flights departing Athens to major US hubs all of Saturday. It is not known how busy those flights were. The senator could have potentially connected to Texas via Chicago, Atlanta, or Washington DC. Daily Mail reached out to Cruz's office for comment. The death toll from the floods reached 119 on Wednesday morning as authorities continue their search for at least 173 people still unaccounted for. Cruz infamously had to defend a trip to Cancun during a crisis in 2021. Water rises from severe flooding along the Guadalupe Kerr County, Texas on Friday, July 4, 2025 Cruz enraged citizens of his state by fleeing in the midst of the worst snow storms to hit in decades, with the power failing for millions and people left freezing in the subzero temperatures. Cruz claimed at the time that his then 10 and 12-year-old daughters asked him if they could go on vacation to Mexico with their friends, so he and his wife boarded a plane hours later. A spokesperson for Cruz said of his most recent trip: 'Within hours, he spoke by phone with Governor [Greg] Abbott, Lt. Governor [Dan] Patrick, Texas emergency management director Nim Kidd, and President Trump, working to ensure that the maximum federal assets were available for search and rescue. 'He and his team worked closely with local officials and with families of missing girls throughout that time. He promptly booked a flight back home. 'Given the time difference, he left Athens on Sunday morning and was back in Texas that night. And he was in Kerrville on the ground early Monday morning.' The Daily Mail has approached Cruz's office for comment over the earlier flights. On Wednesday he gave an emotional speech saying he wishes he had a 'time machine' to save lives. 'Texas will rebuild. We're strong, but there's also a process of engaging in a retrospective and saying, what is the exact timeline of what transpired, and what could we have done better look every one of us looking at the flooding in Texas,' Cruz continued. 'If we could step into a time machine and go back to two or three in the morning on July 4, we would rush into those little girls' cabins and get them the hell out of there,' Cruz added. In a Monday interview with Fox News Cruz said that 'something went wrong' when Camp Mystic staff were not warned of rising floodwaters on the Guadalupe River. The floods killed at least 27 campers and counselors at the all-girls Christian summer camp in Kerr County. 'The fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the flood waters are rising — something went wrong there. We've got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm's way,' Cruz told Fox. After this weekend's deadly floods, some Democratsblamed President Donald Trump for crippling a critical agency tasked with alerting Americans to impending natural disasters because of his recent government slashing efforts. DOGE, the Trump administration's cost-cutting effort previously headed by Elon Musk, had been pushing the federal National Weather Service (NWS) to cut jobs. The agency was part of the government-wide Trump administration effort to allow employees the option to retire early with a 'buyout' rather than face potential dismissal. However, it's unclear how many NWS employees took the buyout and it is not clear how staffing levels would have impacted the alert system in particular. Democrat Texas Rep Joaquin Castro noted during an appearance on CNN Sunday that he was unsure if NWS employees taking the buyout had a direct impact on the flood preparation and response. 'I can't say that conclusively,' he said. He added '[I don't] think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies.' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was tasked by Trump to assess the damage in Texas over the weekend, fired back at criticisms from Democrats. 'When I got there on Saturday [the] number one question we got asked was, "We were notified, but we only had a couple hours of notice before this flash flood came. Was the National Weather Service proactive? What was the process that was followed?"' Noem said on Fox and Friends. She fiercely defended the agency saying it sent notifications and 'gave as much time as they could with the tools that they have.' 'We actually had staff on the ground - that was more than would have been in the past because of the holiday vacation,' Noem added. She went on to say that the NWS under Trump is getting an overhaul after being 'neglected' for years. The agency is operating on an 'ancient system that needed to be upgraded' and the 'new technology' will be installed soon, she promised. Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether any cuts at the NWS affected the forecasting agency's response to catastrophic flooding in Central Texas. Schumer is looking into whether staffing vacancies at the NWS's San Antonio office in particular contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasting the flooding. He is specifically scrutinizing the local office's communications with Kerr County officials. The NWS has defended its forecasting and emergency management as the floods ravaged the area. Texas officials have also criticized the NWS after the catastrophic flood, arguing it failed to warn the public about impending danger. A top three leadership role at the NWS's San Antonio office has been vacant since earlier this year after Paul Yura, the US forecasting agency's warning coordination meteorologist, accepted an offer from the Trump administration to retire. Yura's role was to build relationships with local emergency managers and officials, with the goal of building trust in the community before disaster strikes. The NWS's San Antonio office is responsible for forecasting the area's weather, collecting climate data and warning the public about dangerous conditions. The office issued multiple alerts Thursday afternoon and Friday morning about flash flood risks, according to local meteorologists. 'Even though those messages were issued, it does not mean it got to the people who needed them,' said Erik Nielsen, who studies extreme rain at Texas A&M University.
