Senator John Neely Kennedy accused David J. Bier, the director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, of triggering his “gag reflex.” A heated exchange between the duo took place at a recent Senate Budget Committee meeting, the agenda of which was to discuss the impact of immigrants on the U.S. budget.
According to a report by Alternet, the Kennedy and Bier were involved in a heated conversation about contradictory statistics regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration policy goals.
Kennedy brought up a “hyperbolic statement” made by Bier about the alleged deportation of U.S.-born citizens. The senator dubbed it a “population purge” to reduce the population of American citizens in the U.S. His statements followed Trump’s previous remarks about immigrants reportedly draining resources from the nation.
CAPITOL CLASH: Sen. John Kennedy fires back in a hearing after a witness accused the Trump admin of “trying to deport U.S.-born citizens.”
“What planet did you just parachute in from,” Kennedy asked. “You trigger my gag reflex.” pic.twitter.com/TxLQYRupAX
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 10, 2026
When Bier attempted to justify his remarks, Kennedy asked, “What planet did you just parachute from?” adding, “You trigger my gag reflex.” Before their argument could escalate further, they were interrupted.
Speaking to Tim Miller from The Bulwark, Bier recalled the moment that has now gone viral on the Internet. Instead of sharing his reaction to the comment, Bier explained his perspective on Trump’s immigration goals.
While Trump claims that having immigrants in the nation is getting costly for taxpayers, Bier believes otherwise. “On average, they’re less costly to the government and help reduce the deficits,” Bier stated.
He explained his stance by using an example of immigrants making “significantly less usage” of social services and Medicare in comparison to U.S.-born citizens.
As mentioned earlier, it didn’t take the Internet very long to react to Kennedy’s “gag reflex” comment. Fox News shared the viral moment on its social media handles, sparking a range of reactions from critics and supporters of Kennedy.
KENNEDY: You said, ‘Republicans think can troll their way into us accepting ethnic cleansing.’ Did I read that correctly?
BIER: DHS tweeted for 100 million deportations. That would be ethnic cleansing!
KENNEDY: You don’t think that’s hyperbolic?
BIER: I think advocating 100… pic.twitter.com/xBRA9CJrj4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 10, 2026
One user wrote, “Say what you want about politics here, but Senator Kennedy’s southern insult game is absolutely unmatched.” Another one claimed, “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a ‘sick burn’.”
A third user noted, “Haha, that was brilliant! He left them speechless.” A fourth one mentioned, “That’s typical of Kennedy when he can’t back up what he’s talking about; he goes out and insults the person.”
Another user stated, “Well, it’s true. They are pushing to end birthright citizenship.” Similarly, many other netizens had mixed reactions to the viral interaction at the recent Budget Committee meeting.
🚨 Republican Senator Kennedy just went after Kristi Noem for spending $220 million in taxpayer money on commercials featuring herself.
Her response: “It would be helpful to know how effective it has been.”
Kennedy: “They were effective in your name recognition.”
A quarter… pic.twitter.com/IaN3aOfq1W
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) March 4, 2026
This reportedly isn’t the first time Kennedy has made such remarks. According to a report by The Hill, Kennedy had compared his anger to “mamma wasp” when calling out former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. This happened when Noem revealed that Trump had permitted an expensive campaign advertisement.
The Trump administration has not yet reacted to the remarks from the recent Senate Budget Committee meeting.
