Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy encouraged people to express themselves peacefully in the case of protests about Donald Trump’s arrest, which the former president predicted for Tuesday.
Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt took turns questioning the senator about the circumstances surrounding Trump’s potential indictment, asking what he thought in relation to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s warning to avoid protests.
“In America, you’re free to protest,” he said when the hosts asked what he thought. “You’re not really free if you can’t express yourself, but do it peacefully. Don’t be a knucklehead and riot. I mean do it peacefully.”
Kennedy also told Doocy earlier in his televised appearance that institutions have become more politicized when they shouldn’t.
“America’s institutions should not be perceived to be political. Look at the damage that former FBI Director Comey did to the FBI,” he said. “In this particular case, it’s hard to know where the justice begins and the politics ends.”
The senator then turned to evaluating Alvin Bragg’s motives as the attorney whose office brings the case against Trump.
“The Manhattan district attorney Mr. Bragg, we’re not talking we’re not exactly talking about Oliver Wendell Scalia here. He’s not a he’s not a neutral arbiter. He’s more of an activist than an impartial prosecutor,” Kennedy continued. “ He believes cops are a bigger problem than criminals, who refuses to prosecute many crimes. And I don’t know what Mr. Bragg has as evidence, maybe he has the complete goods, but he can do a lot of damage here to a very important institution if he’s not careful. And I would say the same thing if President Trump were a Democrat or if the shoe were on the other foot.”
“I don’t think prosecutors ought to be politicians. I don’t want to have to worry if if I’m accused of a crime whether the prosecutors a Republican or a Democrat or a crypto socialist, like Mr. Bragg,” he added when asked about this latest case compared to Mar-A-Lago, Jan. 6 and Atlanta. “That’s not the way our system is supposed to work.”
Earhardt asked if these events will ultimately help or hurt Trump, and Kennedy responded that he didn’t know.
“I don’t know. I can’t predict the future. So I’m gonna have to wait on it like everybody else. I’ve said this about the presidential race. My prediction is the experts will be wrong,” he said. “The people that hate President Trump will probably applaud. The people that just love President Trump will probably get angry.”