Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told President Joe Bidens judicial nominee Dale Ho that he wont support his nomination because he thinks hes too angry to be a judge.

Mr. Ho, youre a smart man. I can tell. But I think youre an angry man, Kennedy said during Hos Wednesday hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. We dont need federal judges who are angry. We need federal judges who are fair and can see both points of view.

It was a bizarre attack on Ho, who is one of the nations preeminent voting rights lawyers. But Kennedys criticism comes as conservatives are trying to sink Hos nomination over past tweets and his advocacy work for organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Biden nominated Ho, 44, for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is the director of the ACLUs voting rights project and was previously a staff attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He argued two cases against the Trump administration at the Supreme Court, one of which successfully challenged Trumps plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Kennedy said Ho seemed angry because of tweets hed previously sent that criticized Republican senators. He didnt say what the tweets said, but Ho said he regretted the tone hed taken on Twitter at times in his role as an advocate.

The Louisiana Republican pressed Ho to say if he meant what he had said about the GOP senators he criticized on Twitter.

When you crossed the line, did you mean it? asked Kennedy.

Without knowing the specific context or the specific tweet that youre referring to, Sen. Kennedy, its kind of hard for me to say, said Ho.

Do you generally tweet things you dont mean? asked Kennedy.

Sen. Kennedy, I would agree with you that Twitter has become a very coarse place Ho began.

I dont want to debate Twitter, interrupted Kennedy. Do you generally tweet things you dont mean?

This went back and forth a few times, but nothing came of it.