Republican Sen. John Kennedy faced sharp criticism Sunday after defending Donald Trump’s ongoing confrontation with Iran, even as Americans contend with rising gas and energy costs.
The latest flare-up between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months.
Kennedy, the Louisiana Republican, said on CBS News’ Face the Nation that he continues to support Trump in what the President has described as an ‘excursion’ in the region.
‘If we can stand the pain of the rising cost of energy, we need to stay the course. At least for a few more months. I also don’t think we need to send in troops,’ he said. ‘That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.’
The remark quickly drew backlash online, including from users who took aim at Kennedy’s Louisiana accent.
‘No thanks, Foghorn. I already have enough magic beans,’ Charles Pierce wrote, invoking the Looney Tunes character Foghorn Leghorn.
‘That’s easy for him to say,’ another critic added.
Adam Cohen wrote: ‘This is EXACTLY the message you want to hear going into the midterms… if you’re a Democrat. #BlueWaveIn100Days.’
GOP Senator John Kennedy took the heat on Sunday as he defended Donald Trump’s continuing war on Iran amid higher gas and energy prices in America
The latest escalation in the Middle East has sent oil prices rocketing above $100 per barrel for the first time in two months
The Senator’s seat is not up for reelection in 2026.
Kennedy also rationalized Trump’s nightly attacks on Tehran with an analogy.
‘The president likes the daily attacks. He believes that sometimes you have to kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys.’
The statement is a Chinese idiom meant to punish an individual as a warning to others.
Kennedy compared the ‘more than mildly insane’ Iranian leadership to both Charles Manson and the Son of Sam and a reason the US shouldn’t ‘cut and run.’
‘I think we ought to continue the blockade and starve them out. I think we ought to bomb Pickaxe Mountain and try to reach what’s underneath it,’ he added.
This past week, Iran-backed Houthi rebels bombed ships in the Red Sea, opening up a terrifying new front in Trump‘s war and prompting the President to threaten ‘major military punishment.’
Yemen’s militant group claimed attacks on two Saudi tankers Wednesday night – their first strike since declaring a blockade on the kingdom’s shipping earlier this week.
Kennedy continued to back Trump over the war, calling the Iranian leadership ‘more than mildly insane’
The Houthis fired on the vessels for breaching their embargo in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is responsible for around 7 percent of the global oil trade.
It came as US forces carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, prompting Trump to threaten additional ‘punishment’ on both Tehran and the Houthis.
The US has escalated its air campaign with B-1 bomber strikes on Revolutionary Guard targets. The costly aircraft can haul two dozen 2,000lb bombs or dozens of cruise missiles.
Analysts warn the rebels could cut off Saudi Arabia’s alternative export route through the Red Sea known as the East-West Pipeline.
If Iran’s disruption is successful, it could tighten global supplies at a time when stockpiles are already running low.
The squeeze is expected to reach household budgets within weeks due to higher crude prices pushing up the cost of gas, flights and everyday goods. Europe also faces economic turmoil from Tehran widening the war because the continent relies on Saudi diesel shipped through the Red Sea.
Oil supplies for Britain, France, and Germany were already stretched by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries.
In America, higher crude costs lead to inflation, raising costs for manufacturing and the service industry.
The surge in energy costs poses a political headache for Trump, who campaigned on cheap gas. He now faces the prospect of $100 oil just months before Americans vote in November.
Republicans defending slim majorities in Congress fear that pain at the pump, combined with an open-ended war, could hand Democrats a potent line of attack in the midterms.
Some Republican lawmakers have begun to break away from Trump’s military campaign against the regime, airing their doubts both privately and in public.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike at a contentious Senate hearing on Tuesday as he pleaded for billions in emergency Pentagon funding.
The war has cost the Pentagon $37.5 billion in the last few months. One GOP senator told Hegseth that Congress and the public need ‘straighter answers’ from the military.
Fighting reignited two weeks ago after ceasefire talks between the US and Iran broke down, which triggered ten consecutive nights of strikes on regime targets.
The US is trying to cripple Tehran’s ability to menace commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
America accused Iran a few weeks ago of violating the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking oil tankers passing through the Persian Gulf.
