GOP Senator John Kennedy has been widely mocked for praising Elon Musk as having “oranges the size of beachballs”.
The Louisana Republican appeared to mix his metaphors while contrasting the Twitter CEO with Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
Upset at a new climate change-themed documentary, To The End, in which Ms Ocasio-Cortez appears, Mr Kennedy said the movie had made him “appreciate Elon Musk that much more”.
Mr Musk had taken a “very corouageous stand on the First Amendment” since his $44bn purchase of Twitter, he told Fox News.
For that, detractors were “beating on him like he stole Christmas”, Mr Kennedy said.
“He’s tough as a pine knot. He’s got oranges the size of beachballs. Thanks to Elon Musk, we’re going to have to get some new conspiracy theories because the old ones turned out to be true.”
Mr Kennedy is a graduate of Vanderbilt and Oxford University, where he earned a law degree with first class honours, and has long been accused of playing up his southern mannerisms and folksy phrases for the cameras.
Commenters were quick to point this out on Twitter.
“This whole dumb ‘aww shucks’ shtick is so f***ing tiresome. Sheesh,” wrote @JoJofromJerz.
“Ah yes, simple country lawyer John Kennedy who went to the local blue collar colleges of Vanderbilt and Oxford,” another wrote.
Rose Benson tweeted: “The south called and they want their weird phrasing back.”
Another tweeted: “I am a 69 yr old Southerner and don’t know anyone that talks like that.”
Earlier this month, Mr Kennedy was panned for railing against “high IQ stupid people” in Washington during a campaign appearance for Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
“These high IQ stupid people walk around with ziplock bags of kale that they can eat to give them energy,” he said.
