‘Gag Me With a Spoon!’ Sen. John Kennedy Tells Law Professor It’s ‘Embarrassing’ She’s Teaching ‘Our Kids’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) grilled law professor Kate Shaw at a Tuesday Senate hearing where he grew so frustrated he exclaimed, “Gag me with a spoon!”

At the Senate hearing, Kennedy brought up comments from Shaw’s podcast. In an April 22, 2024 episode, she referred to some Supreme Court justices as “evil.” Shaw is an ABC News contributor on top of being a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She’s also been married to MSNBC host Chris Hayes since 2007.

Shaw did not recall using the word “evil” as Kennedy quoted her from her podcast. She co-hosts Strict Scrutiny for Crooked Media.

“All right, here’s what you said. You were talking about the majority opinion in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis. You said, quote, ‘Justice Kagan, I mean, will she be able to control the opinion’s future distortion by her evil colleagues? Probably not,’ end quote. Who were you talking about?” Kennedy asked Shaw.

The professor continued denying saying Supreme Court justices were “evil,” chalking it up to a transcription error.

“Sir, I’m very skeptical. If it was a transcription, it was probably a transcription error. I do not think I said that,” she said.

“You’re embarrassed that you made this statement, aren’t you? You’re an officer of the court,” Kennedy said.

At another point, he told the professor, “You know what I’m embarrassed at? That you’re teaching our kids.”

On the podcast episode in question, Shaw does use the word “evil,” saying, “So good result, definitely constructed opinion by Justice Kagan. I mean will she be able to control its potential future distortion by her evil colleagues? Probably not.” You can hear those comments here at approximately the 59:50 mark.

The senator refused to drop the line of questioning as Shaw said she would need to look back at the podcast. She admitted that she has been “very critical” of some justices.

“You did, right here, on your podcast, on April 22, 2024, big as Dallas,” Kennedy said. “And you’re an officer of the court, and you’re here advising us to be respectful of federal judges. And you say there are evil members of the United States Supreme Court,” Kennedy said. “Gag me with a spoon! You’re part of what’s the problem in all of this.”

Watch above via CSPAN.