ET phone home — but not to the United States!
A Republican senator presented a bizarre plea on the US Senate floor last week, warning against fictitious dangers presented by radioactive shrimp, including claims that consuming it could make someone grow new appendages — or go the way of the extraterrestrial.
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, 73, stood before his colleagues on Thursday beside a blown-up photo of the tapeworm-like creature from “Alien.”
His remarks were inspired by the batches of radioactive shrimp recalled from multiple supermarkets twice in late August. While they were undeniably dangerous, the shrimp only posed an increased risk of cancer because they carried the radioactive isotope cesium-137, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
On the floor, though, Kennedy cited several sci-fi symptoms — as one of his staffers tried to sit by his side with a straight face.
“It will kill you. Even if it doesn’t turn you into the alien if you eat this stuff, I guarantee you will grow an extra ear. That was bad enough,” Kennedy claimed.
The crux of his argument stemmed from concerns over produce grown or fostered in other countries that “don’t abide by the same rules that we abide by in America,” he said.
He insisted, without proof, that other countries “shoot the shrimp full of antibiotics” and claimed that people don’t notice because they “become resistant to certain bacteria” after consuming enough foreign shrimp.
Kennedy admitted that he is “biased,” since bolstering US production stands to bring more cash to Louisiana, one of the largest providers of shrimp in the country alongside Texas.
“I believe in homegrown Louisiana shrimp, fresh out of the Gulf, not radioactive. But I understand that some stores prefer to buy foreign shrimp because it is cheaper. Now we know why: The damn stuff is radioactive,” the pol said.
Kennedy reposted the questionable presentation on his X account, which has garnered 1.5 million views since Thursday. Some insisted the senator was “fear-mongering” to distract from other pertinent issues, while others reluctantly agreed that the US should prioritize home-harvested produce.
The Louisiana senator, who has served since 2017, has a long history of providing obscure comments on national issues.
In the wake of the deadly July shooting at the NFL headquarters in Manhattan, Kennedy said that the country needs “idiot control” instead of stricter gun control legislation. He clarified that he admittedly didn’t know “exactly how to do that.”
When talking about the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, he advised Democrats up in arms over President Trump’s intervention to “pop a Zoloft,” a type of SSRI that is commonly used to treat diagnosed anxiety, depression and OCD.
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