--- description: Sen. John McCain yelled at protesters at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, calling them "disgraceful" and "low-life scum." title: John McCain Calls Kissinger Protesters 'Low-Life Scum' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf29ad3bf1aba01ea/69869c3f55a859dda9a81d83/john-mccain-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch John McCain Call Kissinger Protesters 'Low-Life Scum'  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2015 5:21 PM CUT  Sen. John McCain in Washington on June 18, 2014. Sen. John McCain in Washington on June 18, 2014.T.J. Kirkpatrick—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2015 5:21 PM CUT Sen. John McCain channeled his inner Clint Eastwood at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, calling protestors who broke in “disgraceful” and “low-life scum.” The protesters began their demonstration as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger entered to give his testimony in a hearing on national security and global concerns. For over one minute they chanted, “Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes,” until they were escorted away. McCain, who chairs the committee, then apologized to Kissinger and the rest of the speakers, saying, “I have never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place.” Watch the video here. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3687891/mccain-kissinger-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3687891/mccain-kissinger-protest/"},"headline":"Watch John McCain Call Kissinger Protesters 'Low-Life Scum'","datePublished":"2015-01-29T17:21:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:59:24.134Z","description":"He threatened to have them arrested","url":"https://time.com/3687891/mccain-kissinger-protest/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf29ad3bf1aba01ea/69869c3f55a859dda9a81d83/john-mccain-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf29ad3bf1aba01ea/69869c3f55a859dda9a81d83/john-mccain-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John McCain Discusses The Situation In Iraq At American Enterprise Institute","caption":"John McCain Discusses The Situation In Iraq At American Enterprise Institute","creditText":"T.J. Kirkpatrick—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3687891/mccain-kissinger-protest/","name":"Watch John McCain Call Kissinger Protesters 'Low-Life Scum'"}}]}] ```