Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., launched a unique attack against U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer over a plan to relinquish a military base in the Indian Ocean, cautioning the British leader to “put down the bong.”
“The United Kingdom is our friend. I went to school there for a while. I love them and I want to see the prime minister do well, but he needs to put down the bong. He needs to put down the bong,” Kennedy said during remarks on the floor of the Senate. “This makes absolutely no sense, and it’s going to be a big part of his legacy if he gives away this island and our military base to, in effect, what will eventually be China.”
At issue is the fate of the Chagos Islands, a British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean that currently hosts a U.S.-U.K. joint naval base at Diego Garcia.
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Sen. John Kennedy, left, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Getty Images)
But a ruling by the International Court of Justice in 2019 that was backed by the United Nations found that the U.K. had no claim to the islands, spurring an October announcement that the U.K. had cut a deal to hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius.
While the deal calls for the base to remain under American and British control for another 99 years, the plan to hand over the territory has received pushback in both the U.K and the United States.
Kennedy let it be known that he was one of those critics, calling the plan to give up control of the islands “bone deep down to the marrow stupid.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives an interview during a visit to the National Nuclear Laboratory on Feb. 6, 2025 in Preston, England. (Oli Scarff – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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“Because the United Nations wants the United Kingdom to feel guilty, they want to give our military base and their military base to Mauritius,” Kennedy said. “Now, the prime minister of the United Kingdom can stop this, and Marco Rubio, our new secretary of state, is against it. And I haven’t talked to him directly, but I think President Trump is against it.”
But the Louisiana senator changed gears later in his remarks, arguing that he did not “mean any disrespect,” while still urging Starmer to reconsider.
Members of the Chagossian community gather outside parliament to protest the government’s decision to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, on Oct. 7, 2024. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
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“I shouldn’t have said the bong part, I take it back,” Kennedy said. “Please Mr. Prime Minister, don’t do this. Don’t do this. We’ll stand with you in telling the United Nations, who’s so upset with you, to go fill out a hurt feelings report because we’re not doing it. We’ll stand with you.”
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
