GOP senator, Fox News host battle over Harris 'ding dong' remark

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Monday said Americans view Vice President Harris as “a bit of a ding-dong,” a comment that was met with some pushback from Fox News host Neil Cavuto.

Kennedy fired off a series of attacks against Harris on Fox News’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” repeatedly claiming polls show that Americans view Harris as “a bit of a ding-dong.”

Cavuto continued to push back on Kennedy’s comments, questioning how beneficial it was for the senator and other Republicans to call the vice president names.

“Margaret Thatcher didn't giggle, Golda Meir didn't giggle. When you look at the polls, fair or not, many Americans — and again, this may not be fair — but I'm showing you what the polls show. Many Americans think that the vice president is a little bit of a ding dong,” Kennedy said Monday.

He did not specify what polls he was referring to. Kennedy also said that these polls show that Americans believe that she is a member of the “loon wing” of the Democratic Party and that they believe she is “not a serious person."

"And let me say it again, I think that fair or not, and it may upset you, but fair or not the American people think those who have an opinion of the vice president think that, number one, she's a little bit of a ding-dong,” he said.

“She's not a serious person. They've had one vegetable in chief. They don't want another. And they also think that she is a member of the loon wing of the Democratic Party,” he added.

Cavuto pushed back throughout the interview, saying he wonders how effective this Republican approach will be in attacking Harris.

“I'm just wondering how you think that will resonate with women when she is called nasty and crazy and a ding-dong and disrespectful, between you and the president, what has been said about her. I'm just wondering, do you worry how that comes across?” Cavuto said.

“And maybe you draw no distinction between a female candidate and male one, and that's fair game, but that this could hurt you with female voters with these type of comments,” he continued.

Kennedy responded by saying he does not care about her gender, but Cavuto interjected and questioned why the senator would call her a “ding-dong” then.

Kennedy then told Cavuto he is just describing what the polling shows and offered to sit down with him and “walk” him through the polls.

“Please, please, please do because I never know when it's constructive to call people names, you know, senator, just on the left or the right,” Cavuto told him.

Kennedy later said that he was "trying to be objective here,” but Cavuto immediately questioned that.

“Are you really? Are you really being objective, senator? I just think you've got a bash-a-thon on name-calling at her. If you call that being objective, I don't know,” Cavuto said.

The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.