the coronavirus crisis

GOP senator claims Obama's birthday party 'single biggest thing' undermining COVID-19 messaging

Sen. John Kennedy wasn't the only person who didn't take too kindly to former President Barack Obama's original 60th birthday party plan, which included inviting some 400 guests to Martha's Vineyard during a nationwide, Delta variant-fueled rise in COVID-19 infections. But it's possible he had one of the most intense reactions, even among the critics.

The party, Kennedy said Wednesday during a Fox News interview, is the "single biggest thing that has undermined our efforts to make the American people understand we are in a fourth wave ... I have never seen something so irresponsible," the senator said, adding that Obama "knows better" and should cancel the bash and have "a beer and a personal pan pizza" with his wife, Michelle, at home instead.

When Kennedy was informed that Obama has indeed scaled the party down significantly, he still wasn't satisfied. "He needs to cancel it, scaling it back won't get it," Kennedy said as the interview wrapped up. Watch the clip below.