US Senator Kennedy Tells Witness Her Head Should Be "...In a Bag"

A hearing was held on hate crimes at the United States Senate. One of the witnesses called by the Senate Judiciary Committee was Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, Maya Berry. The Executive Director is a Muslim-American woman, who helps run the organization that represents 3.7 million Americans.

During the hearing, US Senator from Louisiana, John Kennedy, started an exchange with Executive Director Berry. During this questioning, Kennedy asked Berry whether she supported Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran. While she repeatedly told the Senator "no", he kept insinuating that she had answered "yes" or was refusing to answer.

Executive Director Berry did take a moment to point out how intriguing it was that during a hearing on hate crimes, a Senator would automatically assume a Arab American would support terrorist organizations. However as Berry was making this point, she was interrupted by Kennedy, something he did repeatedly during the exchange.

But that wasn't the most striking part. That came at the end of Kennedy's statement, when he made a direct racist insult to Executive Director Berry. As she told the Washington Post “I didn’t expect a direct racist attack”. 

The shot Kennedy took in his close was to tell the Muslim American woman she should "hide your head in a bag.” The comment drew audible groans from the room. Executive Director Berry was granted time to respond, and instead of battling the racist comment directly, she pointed out how the exchange should be important in understanding the need to respond to hate. Her comments received a round of applause from the room.

Here's the full exchange, including the confusion of her obvious answers to questions, and racist quip.

Truthout was able to put a transcript of the exchange and racist insult. Here's their written version of the exchange:

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You support Hamas, do you not?

MAYA BERRY: Senator, oddly enough, I’m going to say thank you for that question, because it demonstrates the purpose of our hearing today in a very effective way.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Let’s start first with a yes or no.

MAYA BERRY: Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support. But you asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: OK. Well, I got your answer, and I appreciate it. What is the — you support Hezbollah, too, don’t you?

MAYA BERRY: Again, I find this line of questioning extraordinarily disappointing, Senator.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Is that a no?

MAYA BERRY: That you have —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Or yes?

MAYA BERRY: You have Arab American constituents that you represent —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: But is that a —

MAYA BERRY: — in your great state.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Yes, ma’am, I understand that. But is — my time is limited, and I apologize, but is that a yes or a no?

MAYA BERRY: A yes-or-no question to do I support Hezbollah? The answer is I don’t support violence, whether it’s Hezbollah, Hamas or any other entity that invokes it. So, no, sir.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say no, can you?

MAYA BERRY: No, I can say no. I can say yes.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: But you haven’t.

MAYA BERRY: What I can say is your line of questioning —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You just can’t bring yourself to do it.

MAYA BERRY: Senator —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Do you support or oppose Iran in their hatred of Jews?

MAYA BERRY: Again, I’m going to emphasize, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, none of them is going to —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say no, can you?

MAYA BERRY: This discussion — sir, I don’t support —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: It’s real simple.

MAYA BERRY: Excuse me. I’m going to —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: And —

MAYA BERRY: If I may?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Nah, nah, no!

MAYA BERRY: As a Muslim woman — as a Muslim woman, sir, I’m going to tell you —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: I —

MAYA BERRY: — I do not support Iran. But what I will tell you is that —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You —

MAYA BERRY: — this conversation —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: I’m running out of time.

MAYA BERRY: OK.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: I’m sorry. You —

PROTESTER: Senator Kennedy —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You called our decision —

PROTESTER: [inaudible]

CHAIR: Please.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: — to cut funding —

PROTESTER: [inaudible] Goodbye.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You called our decision to cut funding — well, first, what’s the United Nations Relief and Works Agency?

MAYA BERRY: It’s UNRWA, which is —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Yeah.

MAYA BERRY: — the institution that exists to provide services and aid to the nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: And you called our decision to cut funding for them, quote, “an incredible moral failure,” close quote.

MAYA BERRY: That is absolutely correct. But again, I would suggest that conversation —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: And we did —

MAYA BERRY: — is about foreign policy —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: We did that because nine UNRWA staff members were fired for actually helping Hamas on October 7th. Isn’t that the case?

PROTESTER: [inaudible]

MAYA BERRY: I don’t believe that that’s correct in terms of the —

CHAIR: Audience will please —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Let me ask you one more time: You support Hamas, don’t you?

PROTESTER: [inaudible] dead in Gaza!

MAYA BERRY: Sir?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You support UNRWA and Hamas, don’t you?

MAYA BERRY: Sir?

PROTESTER: [inaudible]

CHAIR: Please.

MAYA BERRY: I think it’s exceptionally disappointing that you’re looking at an Arab American witness before you and saying, “You support Hamas.”

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You know what’s disappointing to me?

MAYA BERRY: I do not support Hamas.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You can’t bring yourself to say —

MAYA BERRY: I do not support Hamas or any —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: — you don’t support UNRWA, you don’t support Hamas, you don’t —

MAYA BERRY: I was very clear on my support for UNRWA.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: — support Hezbollah, and you don’t support Iran.

MAYA BERRY: I oppose —

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: You should hide your head in a bag.

Calls for Kennedy to be censured have been growing since the hearing and the racist exchange took place. While some journalists have asked what would have happened if a Democratic Senator would have said the same kind of racist comment to a Jewish witness in a hearing.