Politics

Sen. Kennedy Tells Neera Tanden ‘You Called Sen. Sanders Everything But An Ignorant Slut’

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Lousiana Sen. John Kennedy pressed Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, during a Wednesday hearing, asking her if she stood by her previous comments personally attacking senators.

“I have to tell you I’m very disturbed about your personal comments about people. Um, it is not just one or two. I think you deleted about a thousand tweets and it wasn’t just about Republicans. And I don’t mind disagreements in policy, I think that’s great. I love the dialectic, but the comments were personal. I mean, you called Sen. Sanders everything but an ignorant slut,” Kennedy said.

“That is not true, at all,” Tanden responded.

Kennedy then asked, “When you said these things did you mean them?”

“Senator, I have to say, I deeply regret my comments,” Tanden said.

Kennedy continued to press Tanden on if she actually meant what she said or if she was not telling the truth, to which she said, “I mean, I feel badly. I look back at them, I said them,I feel badly about them. I deleted tweets …”

“Are you saying that because you want to be confirmed?” Kennedy interjected.

“No, I felt badly about them … I must have meant them,” Tanden told Kennedy.

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A number of Republican Senators have continued to hammer Tanden over her past comments and donations to Democrats. In the House, Budget Committee Republicans urged senators to reject Tanden’s nomination in a letter sent Tuesday. (RELATED: House Republicans Urge Senate To Reject Key Biden Nominee Neera Tanden For Financial Ties, Partisanship)

There have continued to be concerns over Tanden’s partisanship since news of her nomination first broke. After being nominated, she quickly deleted over 1,000 tweets critical of Republicans. (RELATED: Josh Hawley Presses Neera Tanden Over Corporate Donations, Ties)

Biden nominated Tanden while she was serving as president of the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank.