Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) suggested a ban on naming buildings after living politicians, a position that could put him on a crash course against the White House.
In an appearance on CBS News’s Face the Nation, Kennedy was asked about an ad paid for by the U.S. government praising President Donald Trump as “the toughest, most resilient person I ever met.” The Louisiana senator replied that he didn’t believe public officials should spend public money on ads for themselves, extending this to the naming of buildings after living figures.
“I don’t think any public official, including President Trump, or Kristi Noem, or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves. Now, the White House sees it differently, but I don’t. I think there ought to be a rule that you can’t. Well, there probably is a rule. You can’t spend public money to promote yourself,” Kennedy said.
“I may end up with a sombrero on my head, but I also think that we ought to have a rule that no politician can have a building named after him while he’s alive,” he joked, referring to Trump’s previous posting of an AI video with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) with sombreros on. “I think that would settle a lot of the controversy. We have that rule in Louisiana. It works pretty well.”
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Kennedy’s inclusion of the building-naming rule comes as the Trump administration battles to put the president’s name back on the Kennedy Center, which was on the building’s facade for a brief time before a judge ordered it removed. The president has pursued several different legal avenues to try and get his name restored, which has earned the ire of Democrats.
Few senators are willing to go against Trump publicly, and it’s even rarer for open Trump allies such as Kennedy to do as much. The president is known for his general intolerance for dissent among congressional Republicans, and his popularity within the party has allowed him to keep the House and Senate on a tight leash.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
