What a doofus. Even my "old school" father in law wears ear protection when shooting. In fact he was shooting a gun very similar to Kerry's, but in 16ga, the last time I went shooting with him, his youngest son, and a grandson. That will probably be the last time I get to shoot with him. He needed help to be able to shoot at all, I think he's lost the memory of exactly how to do it, but even in his "degraded condition" (He's had series of mini-strokes), he knew to wear hearing protection.
Do we know for certain he was shooting trap? That long barrelled side by side would probably be better for trap than this short over/under. However the short gun would be better for skeet and some varieties of sporting clays.
Most "serious" trap shooters use an over/under, as this supposaidly cuts down on parallax error. Personally, I disagree with this, but then I squint and shoot with one eye, so the balance and "platform" of the side-by-side work better for me.
Getting back to the topic, Kerry has been known to go out and shoot upland game, and this is likely his upland game gun. Of course, it's also one of those hyperexpensive doubles (typically $3000 and above new) that's popular with the "English Tudor" set...