Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) appeared to freeze during a live interview on Fox Business.

The Louisiana Republican abruptly froze mid-sentence while speaking with Larry Kudlow about the Trump administration’s crackdown on sanctuary cities.

“I’m sure Jesus loves them, but everybody else thinks,” Kennedy says before freezing mid-sentence.

Watch the footage:

Here’s a backup:

More details from Daily Mail:

The senator remained frozen on camera with his lips slightly parted and eyes staring forward as he stood motionless.

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Kudlow appeared caught off guard but quickly cut in and blamed the bizarre moment on an apparent tech issue.

The senator’s office told the Daily Mail that the reporting on the incident, first picked up by The Daily Beast was false.

‘The Daily Beast is wrong. Yesterday, during my interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, there was a malfunction in my earpiece. I heard a loud screeching noise with a lot of static. It sounded like a 747 taking off,’ the senator told the Daily Mail via a statement.

‘The same thing happened with Rand Paul, who was interviewed before me. I stopped talking until the interference cleared up, and thought we were off the air. Once I could hear Kudlow, I started talking again. All you have to do to get the facts is call Kudlow’s producer, which the Daily Beast intern clearly didn’t do,’ Kennedy added.

‘I guess we had some more technical problems. That was the same mic we lost with Senator Rand Paul,’ Kudlow said.

Whether Kennedy froze or experienced a technical issue, Congress has faced immense criticism for the advanced age of many of its members.

Multiple Congress members, including Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have experienced recent health scares.

There have been numerous calls for age limits in Congress.

Roll Call explained:

A considerable majority of Americans are open to this idea. More specifically, 82 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats support a maximum age limit for elected officials, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll.

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But landing on a specific maximum age might be more difficult than the daunting task of passing a constitutional amendment: 85 years old? 80?

For some reference points, senators in Canada, who are appointed and not elected, have a mandatory retirement age of 75. In the Catholic Church, only cardinals younger than 80 can participate in a papal conclave to choose the next pope. Just 1 percent of S&P 1500 companies have a CEO age 78 or older, which is interesting considering the gravity of work lawmakers have to do on Capitol Hill.

The average age for an S&P 1500 CEO is 58, which is close to the median age of a House member (57.5) in the 119th Congress, according to Pew. The median age for a senator is 64.7. But that masks some of the oldest members, including Iowa’s Charles E. Grassley (91), Vermont’s Bernie Sanders (83), McConnell (83), Maine’s Angus King (81), Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal (79), Vermont’s Peter Welch (77), Hawaii’s Mazie K. Hirono (77) and Oregon’s Ron Wyden (75).

Idaho’s Jim Risch (81), Massachusetts’ Edward J. Markey (78) and Rhode Island’s Jack Reed (75) have announced they’ll seek reelection in 2026. New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen (78) bowed out recently and could be joined in retirement by Richard J. Durbin (80) of Illinois.

In the House there are 41 members age 75 or older, with Dina Titus of Nevada and Donald S. Beyer Jr. of Virginia joining them in the next couple of months. The eldest members include Harold Rogers of Kentucky (87); Maxine Waters (86), Nancy Pelosi (85), Doris Matsui (80) and John Garamendi (80) of California; Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland (85); James E. Clyburn of South Carolina (84); Danny K. Davis (83) and Jan Schakowsky (80) of Illinois; John Carter of Texas (83); Frederica S. Wilson of Florida (82); Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut (82); Virginia Foxx of North Carolina (81); Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri (80); and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey (80).

Critics of age limits might say that institutional knowledge is important to a functioning Congress. But how’s that working out? Elderly wisdom doesn’t seem to be helping smooth things along these days. And there are plenty of members younger than 70 who know how things work.

Of course, the precise amendment language would have to be worked out, perhaps by focusing on age when taking office. An official age 70 or older can’t be sworn in, for example.

 

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