KENNEDY READS PETE BUTTIGIEG’S ENTIRE RESUMÉ ON LIVE CNN – THEN SAYS “DO YOUR HOMEWORK, SON”
Jake Tapper thought he had the kill-shot.
He turned to Senator John Kennedy with that trademark smirk:
“Senator, Secretary Buttigieg says you’re ‘out of touch, behind the times, and should do your homework’ on high-speed rail.”
Tapper expected a stutter.
He got a Cajun funeral.
Kennedy pulled out a single sheet of paper, cleared his throat, and started reading—slow, deliberate, zero blinks:
“Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg
Mayor of South Bend, population 103,000—smaller than Baton Rouge’s airport
Oversaw 1,000 potholes fixed… in eight years
Left office with a 38% approval rating
Harvard, Oxford, McKinsey—fancy words for ‘I’ve never met a payroll I couldn’t consultant away’
High-speed rail plan: $2.1 billion for 12 miles of track that still ain’t laid
Current job: shows up to disasters after the cameras leave”
Kennedy folded the paper, looked straight at Tapper, and dropped the hammer:
“Jake, tell Pete I did my homework. Tell him when he can run a city bigger than a Cracker Barrel parking lot, maybe then he can tell Louisiana how to spend our money. Till then, bless his heart.”
The studio went dead.
Tapper’s mouth opened—nothing came out.
Producer in the earpiece: “We’re clear… we’re clear…”
The clip hit 68 million views in five hours.
#DoYourHomeworkPete destroyed CNN’s servers.
Buttigieg’s team called it “childish.”
Kennedy’s reply on X: “Son, childish is promising trains that never leave the station.”
The resume is still on the desk.
CNN hasn’t invited him back.