On Friday in Washington, D.C., TMZ DC asked Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) about going viral on TikTok, questioning, “What’s the secret, man?”

At the time of this article’s publication, Kennedy had 402.4 thousand followers on the app. His most popular video, also his very first on the platform, has been viewed 1.8 million times since it was posted on April 28.

“Man, I’ve been enjoying your TikTok,” said an unnamed TMZ DC reporter on Friday. “There’s something about you. You’ve got aura online. Some of your colleagues don’t, but something about your TikTok presence hits. What’s the secret, man? You’re going viral.”

“Well, you know, I don’t know,” said Kennedy. “I mean, God gave me the right to remain silent but not the ability. Uh, I just say what I feel.”

He continued:

I think some of it is the fact — and this is just a theory — but some of it is the fact that, um, the American people, they know how politicians in Washington are supposed to sound, and I don’t sound like one. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I’m kinda like the new animal in the zoo that no one’s seen before, so they like to kinda poke at it and see what it’ll do. That’s kinda how I am.

The reporter responded, “That’s kinda what TMZ DC is doing here, too,” referring to the outlet’s new presence in the nation’s capital.

When asked to advise his colleagues on their social media strategy, Kennedy said:

Start out, you gotta get people’s attention. Stand on one leg and bark like a dog, and then after, you’ve got their attention. Just, everybody’s just gotta be themselves, man. Lemme tell you something about the American people. You guys at TMZ know this. The American people are not stupid. Now, they don’t read Aristotle every day, ’cause they’re too busy earning a living, but they get it. They can smell phony a mile away. So, my advice to my colleagues, they don’t have to take it, but my advice to them, all of ’em, is just be yourself. Unless you obviously suck, and then, you may have to fake it or try to be Batman or something.

Watch the clip above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!