GOP Senator Uses WTF Image To Warn About ‘Radioactive’ Shrimp

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Wednesday called for more thorough inspections by the Food and Drug Administration following several recalls of imported shrimp — but used a bloody image of the fictional creature from “Alien” to bolster his point.

Kennedy spoke for five minutes on the Senate floor with the image on an easel behind him.

“Mr. President, this is a photograph of the alien from the movie ‘Alien,’” said Kennedy. “This is what you could end up looking like if you eat some of the raw frozen shrimp being sent to the United States by other countries. Now let me tell you what I’m talking about.”

The FDA announced last month that contaminated shrimp processed by Indonesian-based company PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati was being sold at numerous stores, distributors and wholesalers across the country, including Walmart — the top retailer in America.

The Republican lawmaker offered no actual reason for his confounding presentation, which has been mercilessly mocked on social media, but said: “If you eat it, how could you end up looking like the alien in the ‘Alien’? Because the shrimp was radioactive.”

Kennedy noted the recalled crustaceans contained a radioactive isotope called cesium-137, which is lethal “even if it doesn’t turn you into the alien.” He then made yet another bizarre joke inspired by the 1979 science-fiction classic: “I guarantee you’ll grow an extra ear.”

The FDA investigated the matter in mid-August and recommended recalls for several retailers, distributors and wholesalers across a litany of states. Southwind Foods, Beaver Street Fisheries, AquaStar and Kroger’s have joined Walmart in swiftly cooperating.

“How could this happen in America?” Kennedy asked Wednesday.

“I’ll tell you how,” he added. “Because that shrimp from other countries, which don’t abide by the same rules that we abide by in America, which if you eat it, may turn you into the alien — and at a minimum will cause you to grow an extra ear — is not being inspected.”

Kennedy’s comments arrive at a troubling time, as President Donald Trump has targeted several federal agencies tasked with protecting the public, including the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After presumably digesting the concerns on display Wednesday, however, social media users burst with jokes at Kennedy’s surreal presentation.