In the halls of Congress, Sen. John Kennedy has long been known as the master of the excruciatingly folksy one-liner. His profile off Capitol Hill, however, has recently exploded — thanks to an increasing tempo of Fox News hits, a bestselling book and a growing TikTok following.
The 74-year-old Louisianan is putting his burgeoning notoriety to work for his Senate Republican colleagues, criss-crossing the country for a series of surprisingly successful events where he’s dropping his trademark bons mots, fielding questions about a future presidential bid and discussing “Margaret” — the exercise machine sitting in his carport that is named after Margaret Thatcher and is a guest star in his viral videos.
“When I go into a state and headline a fundraiser for one of my colleagues, it seems to attract people,” Kennedy said in an interview. “I think I’m like the new animal in the zoo. They don’t know what it is, but they like to poke to see what will happen.”
A trip to Ohio for Sen. Jon Husted helped raise more than $2 million, Kennedy said, and he appeared in New Hampshire with former Sen. John Sununu, who is looking to regain the seat he lost in 2008 to outgoing Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Kennedy also recently headlined state-party events in Indiana and Tennessee, the latter of which broke fundraising records, according to attendees. Kennedy said he’s also planning stops in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground Senate states.
“Some of them I have to tell, no, because you can’t be everywhere,” he said. “And frankly some of my colleagues don’t need it — you know they’re going to win anyways.”
Husted praised Kennedy during one of their campaign stops as having a “common-sense approach to governing.” Kennedy, in typical fashion, described Husted more colorfully — as “what cool looks like.”
When Kennedy, at a Politics & Eggs event also attended by Sununu, said that he loved New Hampshire, an audience member yelled back: “Well, we love you!”
Kennedy previously traveled in 2024 to help support key Senate races. But this campaign swing comes as Kennedy’s social and political cachet is on the rise — and it’s especially notable because he has no declared leadership ambitions, which is what tends to put sitting senators on the fundraising circuit.
His appearances on Fox News have earned him fans among Republican voters well beyond the borders of his home state. But his notoriety spread further after publishing “How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will,” which spent months on The New York Times bestseller list.
Kennedy discussed his book full of mostly tongue-in-cheek insider observations at the New Hampshire event, saying it would make readers “think” but also “may make you day-drink.”
He is planning to run for reelection to his Senate seat in 2028. Kennedy, however, has acknowledged that efforts have been made to recruit him into the presidential race by people with “a lot of money.” Kennedy didn’t rule out a possible White House bid, summing up his feelings as “never say never.”
Kennedy’s breakout comes as he’s carved out a lane on Capitol Hill as a deliverer of folksy aphorisms who is typically a reliable vote for leadership and Trump but is occasionally willing to throw an elbow.
He put up a stink for days last year over a government funding package — but ultimately accepted a deal that let the bills move forward. He sank a judicial nominee during Trump’s first term and warned in an interview last month that he was willing to vote against a key appeals court pick if Trump nominates someone he can’t support.
Kennedy said he doesn’t go to the White House just to hang out, like some colleagues. And while Kennedy has acknowledged that Trump has sometimes gotten angry with him, he believes he has a good and candid relationship with Trump.
He was part of a group of GOP lawmakers who went to 1600 Pennsylvania in May to press the president on a stalled housing bill. Trump also called him to consult on potential replacements for Kristi Noem shortly before the president removed her from her post as Department of Homeland Security secretary.
His quotemongering can sometimes be hokey — especially for someone with degrees from Vanderbilt, Virginia Law and Oxford — but his colleagues view him as a serious legislator who is willing to use his leverage to advance his conservative policy agenda and isn’t afraid to ruffle fellow Republicans’ feathers.
Those colleagues still take note of his way with words. As Kennedy was talking to a POLITICO reporter recently, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) crashed the conversation to note, “Damn, he’s got good quotes.”
He now has a much broader audience for his down-home wit courtesy of short-form video. One TikTok about the driveway elliptical machine has more than 5 million views — meaning Margaret might now rival “Beth,” the vintage Hoover vacuum wielded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) ahead of family gatherings, for social-media fame.
Kennedy said his staff gave him some general advice for how to approach the vertical videos to be “normal” and to not be “serious” or make videos about “policy stuff.”
“They said, ‘Just be yourself,’ which is frankly a dangerous instruction, that’s what I tried to do, and they sent me home one weekend with instructions to film the video … and I decided to do one with Margaret,” Kennedy said.
More recently he posted about his dog Charlie with one viewer comparing him to “America’s uncle.” He praised his wife’s chicken salad — using the same words of praise he’s used for omelets and the states of Ohio and New Hampshire — as being “better than sex.” And he filmed a video talking about his backyard being filled with his dogs’ poop, acknowledging in an interview that his wife “goes ballistic” when he uses kitchen knives to clean it out of his tennis shoes.
And while Kennedy says he has “no idea” if any of his colleagues are watching his TikTok videos, they appear to have caught on both in Washington and outside of it.
“I don’t understand it, really don’t,” Kennedy said. “But people stop me all the time and ask how Margaret is.”
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