Kennedy Unleashes on Biden’s Clueless Nominees—Says He Was “Constantly Shocked” by Their Ignorance on Victor Davis Hanson Show

Senator John Kennedy doesn’t mince words. If you tuned into the Victor Davis Hanson Show expecting a polite exchange of political pleasantries, you were in for a rude awakening. Kennedy, a man with law degrees from both the University of Virginia and Oxford, sat across from one of America’s sharpest minds and proceeded to rip the Biden administration’s nominees apart—calling out their lack of basic constitutional knowledge, their activist leanings, and a culture of intellectual laziness that, in his words, “constantly shocked” him.

From the opening bell, it was clear Kennedy wasn’t here to tiptoe around the truth. Victor Davis Hanson, known for his incisive historical perspective, wasted no time: “Senator, you’ve been astute about Article Six, the Supremacy Clause. It seems the federal government is trying to enforce clear federal matters like immigration, but we’ve got mayors and governors actively resisting federal law, even creating sanctuary areas. Where does this end?”

Kennedy’s answer was as blunt as a sledgehammer. “It is clear to me after four years with President Biden that the Democratic Party today thinks vetting people at the border is racist. I think it’s prudent. But there’s no doubt—they just believe in open borders.” He paused, letting the silence hang. “That’s their right as Americans to believe, but they can’t not follow the law. Most Americans lock their front door at night. Not because they hate everyone outside, but because they love the people inside. You can be for legal immigration and against illegal immigration without being inconsistent.”

His voice was measured, but there was no mistaking the frustration. Kennedy accused Democrats of intellectual dishonesty, saying they’d be “much more honest” if they simply admitted they didn’t believe in borders at all. He called out the sanctuary city movement as “clearly illegal,” citing the Supremacy Clause and drawing historical parallels to states’ rights crises in American history. “Are we inching closer to something unprecedented?” Hanson asked. Kennedy’s reply was acid: “It would be foolish. I’ve got rocks in my driveway that are dumber than that.”

The senator’s critique didn’t stop at immigration. He turned his fire on the Biden administration’s judicial nominees, describing a parade of appointees who, in Kennedy’s words, were “activists first and lawyers second.” He recounted his experience on the confirmation committees, expressing disbelief at how many nominees “had no courtroom experience, hadn’t really thought about law,” and—most damningly—“had never read the Constitution.” Kennedy’s incredulity was palpable: “Just because you’ve seen ‘My Cousin Vinnie’ does not qualify you to be a federal judge.”

Kennedy’s bipartisan credentials are real—he rejected some of Trump’s nominees too—but the senator said the ignorance among Biden’s picks was staggering. “In seventy percent of cases, Biden’s nominees were activists first. Being a federal judge is serious. You have enormous power. You have to know the law. It was clear to me many of them hadn’t even read the Constitution.”

The conversation turned to the radical shift inside the Democratic Party. Hanson asked what had happened to push the party so far left, mentioning the rise of the Squad, radical environmentalism, and the transgender movement. Kennedy didn’t hesitate. “It was President Obama. There’s always been a struggle within the Democratic Party between the socialist wing and traditional Democrats. Clinton brought the party back to the mainstream. Obama moved it as far left as he could. Most people who voted for Biden thought they were getting the second coming of Bill Clinton. Instead, they got the second cousin of Bernie Sanders.”

Kennedy described the Biden White House as “a third term for Obama,” run by woke ideologues who, he said, “felt nothing but contempt for America.” He ridiculed advisors who “think children should be able to change genders at recess,” calling the ideological shift “extraordinary.” Hanson pressed further, asking about Kennedy’s personal meeting with Biden. Kennedy described the president as “very old for his years,” and said he saw early signs of neurodegenerative disease. “The White House staff was maybe getting four or five hours of work out of him a day. He wanted to sit around, tell war stories, have a cup of soup, and go to bed early.”

Kennedy was clear: Biden couldn’t serve a second term, and the White House staff “deserves a lot of blame for hiding it.” He suggested that real power in the administration lay with a handful of Obama holdovers, the First Lady, and Hunter Biden. “My people back home in Louisiana ask me all the time, ‘Who’s really the president?’ I tell them, ‘Whoever controls the teleprompter.’”

The senator didn’t stop at the executive branch. He tore into the culture of fear within the Democratic Party, saying that most senators “know better about this shutdown, but they’re scared of the ‘Lun Wing’—the socialist wing led by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.” Kennedy predicted the election of a socialist mayor in New York and wondered why no one in the party had the confidence to return to Clintonian centrism. “They’re scared. They’re scared of the socialist wing. They’re scared of losing their jobs.”

Kennedy’s reflections on education and upbringing provided a stark contrast to the ignorance he saw among Biden’s nominees. He recounted growing up in a household that valued education above all, with three brothers and eleven degrees between them. “Education is the equalizer, the key. I believe in classic education—philosophy, literature, critical thinking. It’s just as important, if not more so, than learning a trade.”

His time at Oxford, he said, was humbling. “You can’t hide. It’s demanding. One exam at the end, and you either get an alpha, a beta, or you fail. I loved the competition. I loved seeing another view of higher education.” Kennedy’s stories of brilliant classmates and demanding professors stood in stark contrast to the parade of nominees he described as unprepared and uninterested in the law.

The conversation returned to the state of the nation. Hanson asked if Kennedy was optimistic about America’s future. Kennedy replied, “I’m an optimist who worries. Sometimes I’m a paranoid optimist, but I do believe America’s future can be better than our present or past. But I’m not going to bubble wrap it. The water in Washington won’t clear up until we get the pigs out of the creek.”

He called out corruption in the FBI and Justice Department, describing a culture of arrogance and political bias that he said was “dangerous.” The senator recounted shocking revelations about surveillance of sitting senators, phone records handed over without a court order, and whistleblowers who trusted only Senator Grassley to tell the truth. “This weaponizing of the FBI and Justice Department has got to stop. When I found out about it, I thought it was satire. I didn’t believe it. It took my breath away.”

Kennedy vowed to get answers, demanding hearings and accountability for those involved in surveillance and data collection on senators. “This stuff is serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. I want Jack Smith in front of the Judiciary Committee. I want Merrick Garland. I want Chris Wray. I want to know who authorized this fishing expedition.”

He expressed deep respect for Senator Grassley, calling him “rock solid” and “the most unusual person in a good way I’ve ever met.” Kennedy praised Grassley’s integrity and toughness, saying, “You don’t want to mess with Grassley. He’s respected by everyone. You’ll never beat him.”

The interview ended on a note of grim humor—Kennedy’s signature style. “Thank you, Professor. It’s been an honor.” But the message was clear: the senator sees a nation at risk, led by an administration whose nominees are, in his words, “constantly shocking” for their ignorance and lack of preparation.

If Kennedy’s assessment is right, the Biden administration’s legacy may not be its policies, but the parade of unqualified nominees who couldn’t pass a basic civics test. The senator’s toxic honesty, his willingness to call out incompetence and ideological extremism, is a warning shot across the bow of American politics. For Kennedy, the stakes are nothing less than the survival of constitutional government—and he’s not about to let ignorance win without a fight.