“You support Hamas, don’t you?”

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Tuesday falsely accused an Arab-American witness of supporting terrorists at a Senate hearing, and when she expressed her blatant Islamophobia, the GOP senator told her to “put your head in a bag.”

Kennedy chided Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, nonpartisan national civil rights organization during his testimony before a The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on curbing hate crimes. Berry was the only Muslim witness at the hearing.

“You support Hamas, don’t you?” Kennedy asked Berry suddenlyrefers to the terrorist group behind the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. His question drew an audible gasp from the audience.

“Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to thank you for that question because it shows the purpose of our hearing today,” Berry responded. “Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support. But when you ask this question to the head of the Arab American Institute, you are very much focusing on the issue of hatred in our country.

Several people in the audience applaud after his speech.

But Kennedy followed suit, asking if he supported Hezbollah, an Islamist political party and paramilitary group also designated a terrorist organization.

“Again, I find this line of questioning extremely disappointing, Senator,” Berry began to respond as Kennedy spoke over him, demanding a yes or no answer.

“The answer is that I don’t support violence, whether it’s Hezbollah, Hamas or any other entity that appeals to it,” he finally said. “No, then, sir.”

“You can’t say no, can you?” Kennedy responded, even though she said no.

The GOP senator pressed forward, raised his voice, asked Berry if he supported Iran, and talked him down as he tried to answer his questions. Someone in the audience started shouting as Kennedy spoke.

“I think it’s extraordinarily disappointing that you would look at an Arab-American witness in front of you and say, ‘You support Hamas,'” Berry said after repeatedly rejecting his claims that he supports terrorist groups.

“You should hide your head in a bag,” Kennedy finally said, drawing loud boos from some in the audience.

Here’s a video clip of the offensive questioning of the Republican senator: