(CNN) Sen. John Kennedy said Friday that White House nominee Matthew Petersen, who struggled to answer basic questions about the law during his nomination hearing on Wednesday, should be removed from consideration for a position as a US district judge.

"I'm hoping the White House will pull down Mr. Petersen," Kennedy told Erin Burnett . "I don't wanna see him suffer."

"I'm hoping the White House will pull down Mr. Peterson...I don't wanna see him suffer." - Sen. John Kennedy on Matthew S. Petersen, a US District Court nominee who stumbled badly during his confirmation hearing https://t.co/FraPcpFb5e pic.twitter.com/vopEGmMuXM — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) December 16, 2017

Kennedy, a first-term Republican from Louisiana, was tasked with questioning Petersen during his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I think he's whip smart, probably," Kennedy said of Petersen. "But you can't just walk into a federal courthouse for the very first time and say 'here I am, I think I wanna be a judge.' It just doesn't work that way."

Petersen was nominated by President Trump, but his inability to field rudimentary legal questions yielded a collection of awkward moments that have since been circulated widely on social media.

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