Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) never disappoints when it comes to destroying Democrat judicial nominees and so-called expert witnesses, and his latest Senate hearing performance was no exception. This time, the target was Dr. Benjamin Keys, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at Wharton. What ensued was a hilarious takedown that revealed not only the absurdity of the climate alarmist narrative but also the hypocrisy of those who preach it.
Kennedy kicked things off by highlighting an essay Keys wrote for the New York Times titled, “Climate Change Should Make You Rethink Homeownership.” Kennedy, in his signature deadpan style, asked, “Did you write that?” Keys confirmed he did. The Louisiana senator then went for the jugular.
“Pretty bold,” Kennedy observed. “You own a home?”
“I do. In a flood zone,” Keys admitted.
Kennedy’s response was priceless: “Have you sold it?”
Keys sheepishly admitted he had not, prompting Kennedy to drive the point home. “Oh, well, you’re telling everybody else to sell theirs.”
Kennedy had just exposed him for the classic climate change alarmist hypocrite. Some of the biggest climate change alarmists are the ones who travel by private planes and live on the water despite their apocalyptic predictions of rising sea levels. Barack Obama comes to mind as a notorious example of this.
In his guest essay, Keys wrote, “it’s time for some prospective buyers set on living in areas with high risk of hurricanes, floods, wildfires and tornadoes to reconsider homeownership as a financial goal.” He added that “renting is quickly becoming a better way for many people to enjoy these places with much less financial baggage.”
If you read his entire essay, it comes across as a veiled attempt to push people of modest means out of desirable areas, leaving them as playgrounds for the wealthy — all under the guise of a climate change agenda.
But let’s get back to the Senate hearing.
“You’re a climate extremist, aren’t you, Professor?” Kennedy asked.
Keys attempted to deny the label, but Kennedy wasn’t letting him off the hook. The senator’s ability to cut through the sanctimony is unmatched. Here’s a man telling everyone, particularly undesirable middle-class people, to give up their homes because of climate change, yet he’s living comfortably in a flood zone.
If that’s not a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do,” what is?
But Kennedy wasn’t finished. He moved on to expose Keys’ disdain for ordinary Americans. Referring to a tweet from July 2024, Kennedy quoted Keys as saying, “Honestly, the biggest long-term political problem the Democrats have is that they don’t know how to talk to low-information morons.” Keys tried to deny it, claiming the words weren’t his.
Recommended: A Biden Email Scandal Worse Than Hillary’s?
Kennedy wasn’t buying it. “Yes, you did,” he said with the kind of confidence that makes witnesses squirm. When Keys backpedaled, suggesting he might have liked or retweeted it instead, Kennedy pounced. “Oh, do you often like tweets you don’t agree with?”
And there it was — the knockout punch. Kennedy delivered the line with the precision of a seasoned interrogator — which, of course, he has proven himself to be many, many times. “You can’t make this cat walk backwards, Professor,” he quipped, cementing his victory.
Brought to you today by Senate Democrats: A climate extremist who tells people to sell their homes . . . but still lives in his. pic.twitter.com/noeEnx3347
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) December 18, 2024
This exchange perfectly illustrates the hypocrisy of the climate alarmist elite. They don’t believe their own scare tactics. Dr. Keys owns a home in a flood zone and dismisses average Americans as “low-information morons.” Kennedy’s grilling wasn’t just entertaining; it exposed how little credibility these so-called experts have when they refuse to practice what they preach.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member