On Friday, frustrated because he could not be heard during a virtual Senate hearing dealing with the United States Postal Service. Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper, unaware that he could be heard, swore, “F***! F***! F***!”
The incident was prompted by Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who asked Carper to speak, saying, “Senator Carper.” When Carper could not be heard, Johnson continued, “Is Senator Carper there?” Still not hearing Carper, Johnson moved on, saying, “We’ll move on to Senator Lankford.”
Turning in the direction of someone who appeared to be an aide, Carper swore, “F***! F***! F***!” That triggered Senator James Lankford (R-OK) to assert to Johnson, “I think Sen. Carper is there.” Johnson asked, “Sen. Carper can you unmute?” adding, “We don’t want to be on TV again.”
Sen. Tom Carper dropping some f bombs, apparently because his computer was muted: pic.twitter.com/uARqNK6IQ5
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) August 21, 2020
After the incident, Carper seemingly explained away his profane language by tweeting, “Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!#DontMessWith USPS.”
Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!#DontMessWithUSPS
— Senator Tom Carper (@SenatorCarper) August 21, 2020
The use of the “f” word seems to be getting more ubiquitous among member of the Democratc Party in recent years; on Monday night, before she made her appearance at the Democratic National Convention, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer apparently had a need to display how hip she was, saying into a hot mic, “It’s not just shark week. It’s shark week,” before mouthing “motherf****r.”
In May 2020, former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who represented California’s 25th district before she resigned over accusations that she had sexual relations with a staffer, decided to weigh in on the special election last week held for her former seat, which was won by GOP candidate Mike Garcia over Democratic state assemblywoman Christy Smith, commenting, “It really hurt to have my old seat flip back to Republican … In fact, it was pretty f***ing devastating.”
In March 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reportedly “lashed out” at CNN’s Manu Raju during a press gaggle when Raju asked the senator about his campaign.
In a series of tweets, Raju detailed the alleged encounter, saying, “Sen. Bernie Sanders grew angry when asked about his campaign plans. During a gaggle with reporters in the Capitol, I asked Sanders about his timeframe for making a decision, and he lashed out: ‘I’m dealing with a f***ing global crisis. You know, we’re dealing with.’”
Sen. Bernie Sanders grew angry when asked about his campaign plans. During a gaggle with reporters in the Capitol, I asked Sanders about his timeframe for making a decision, and he lashed out: "I'm dealing with a fucking global crisis. You know, we're dealing with."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 18, 2020
In February 2020, at a pro-Elizabeth Warren event in San Diego, California, California Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) blared into the microphone: “F*** Donald Trump!”
And of course, there’s the infamous quote from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) in January 2019 on her first night as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, when she delightedly yelled about the President of the United States: “We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the mother***er.”
Just so Carper doesn’t feel alone out there.