“Profanity is the parlance of the fool.” — President Teddy Roosevelt
“Be on time. Never criticize a teammate. Never use profanity.” — UCLA 10-time NCAA Basketball Champion Head Coach John Wooden
“I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bulls—.” – Filmmaker Mel Brooks
Do members of Congress curse?
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The House of representatives. (Chip Somodevilla)
Of course.
Democrats aren’t fussing about President Trump and Elon Musk.
They’re cussing about President Trump and Elon Musk.
It’s customary for members of Congress to express their views on the president of the United States.
They may request a concrete step on domestic policy. A healthcare issue. Suggest an approach on dealing with China or the Middle East. Maybe an initiative to improve the economy, bolster jobs or increase productivity.
But congressional Democrats have very specific ideas about President Trump — and what should happen to him. And in some cases, Musk.
“F— Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., at a Capitol Hill rally for the union which represents many federal employees.
Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., spoke about working as a construction worker and electrician for the International Brotherhood of Electoral Workers in Atlantic City.
Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) listens during a hearing called “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos” before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Michael A. McCoy)
“We had a guy called Donald Trump. We fought with him for ten years,” said Norcross. “I’m from Jersey. So we speak a little differently. I say f— Trump!”
Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., is a freshman and a pulmonologist.
“I don’t swear in public very well,” conceded Dexter.
But the congresswoman proved she could cuss like a sailor.
“We have to f— Trump!” fulminated Dexter.
It’s unclear what rubric Dexter relied on to judge if she swore “very well” or failed in her lexical mission. But just six weeks into her first term in Congress, Dexter had cussed out the president of the United States. It’s a feat her predecessor, former Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., never matched in his nearly three decades in Congress.
Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., speaks during a news conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center to oppose Elon Musk gaining access to the Treasury Department’s federal payment system, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cheese and crackers!
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., took a slightly different approach. She didn’t issue a verbal disposition to the president. She issued a slightly sanitized call to action.
“It’s time to push back on the bullies. Are you guys ready to fight? Let’s effing go!” yelled Sachez at the protest with federal employees.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., did not direct his obscenities at the president. Instead, Boyle was more general in his characterization about what has gone down during the first month of the Trump administration.
“I’m from the home of the Super Bowl champion Eagles,” bragged Boyle. “The great Super Bowl run was actually a welcome distraction for me and all of us in Philly from the sort of bulls— that’s been going on.”
Fly Eagles, fly.
But for the record, Boyle did not give the president the bird.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., parroted Boyle’s profanity.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., arrives for a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus at the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Getty Images)
“Bulls—. Bulls—. That is why we’re here to fight them,” said Frost, focusing on Musk. “We can’t allow this unelected billionaire to come in and to eviscerate the things we fought so hard to get right. This isn’t about protecting the system.”
Son of a biscuit eater!
I don’t know where you went to school, but where I grew up in rural Ohio, a teacher might threaten to wash out a student’s mouth with soap if they used salty language. Hey. It was the 1970s. It’s unclear if there’s a remedy to pasteurize the vulgar language now directed toward the president from congressional Democrats.
But apparently to the Democrats, desperate times call for #*&@?+&! measures.
In fact, if Democrats kept a “swear jar,” it’s possible their regular contributions could offset some of the proposed cuts by DOGE.
Major League Baseball players returned to the diamond for an abbreviated season in the summer of 2020 — cut short by the pandemic. With no fans cheering and the games unfolding inside cavernous, empty stadiums, field microphones truly picked up the “sounds of the game.” The experience put an entirely new spin on “color commentary.”
Turns out there were more than just foul balls in the national pastime.
Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon)
So for Democrats, perhaps cursing is the new vernacular. It may be helpful to let off steam. The language may rile up the base. It may even pep up a crowd of government workers who fear for their jobs under DOGE. Does it make a difference in the policy? Probably not. Does it persuade the president? No. Does it capture the attention of those aligned with President Trump — whom Democrats need to bring into their fray? Doubtful.
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Democrats may think some of that’s balderdash.
“We have to start liberating politicians to speak to the truth,” said former Democratic presidential candidate and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., on Fox.
Phillips just left Congress last month. Democrats are certainly speaking. It’s just unclear if their cussing boosts the message.
Or, is the swearing the message. It might underscore just how frustrated Democrats are with what President Trump is doing — to say nothing of the fact that he’s in office for a second term.
The language replicates what Democrats did in 2017 during Mr. Trump’s first term.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., leaves the Senate Democrats lunch in the Mansfield Room in the Capitol on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. ( Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
“We should go the f— home,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., eight years ago if Democrats weren’t tangibly helping people.
Granted, President Trump’s expletives shifted the political linguistic paradigm when he first campaigned in 2015 and 2016. A 2019 New York Times article referred to Mr. Trump as the “profanity President.” Part of the president’s political appeal was that he spoke “everyday” language. That resonated with large swaths of voters who wanted answers to their problems and were fatigued by sterilized bromides.
Clean language was usually the default of public officials until recent years. Now everyone seems to have a case of political potty mouth.
But politicians have long relied on expletives.
Former President Biden was captured on mics in a stage whisper when he leaned in to tell President Obama that passing Obamacare was “a big f—ing deal” in 2010.
A CNN reporter was accused of promoting President Joe Biden’s campaign merch on X Wednesday. (Kevin Lamarque)
Then-Vice President Dick Cheney told former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to “go f— yourself” when he visited the Capitol in 2004.
In 2000, President George W. Bush spotted the late New York Times political reporter Adam Clymer in the crowd while campaigning in Naperville, Illnois. The future president observed to Cheney that Clymer was a “major league a–hole.”
So for now, Democrats are trying to calibrate their response to President Trump.
“We can’t always be at a 10,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “We’re going to have to find degrees of outrage here.”
Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida, during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)
That’s the elusive recipe for Democrats. President Trump, Musk and congressional Republicans give Democrats a lot to work with. But they have yet to make a significant impact in their opposition.
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As Phillips suggests, Democrats must figure this out.
Otherwise, they’re f—ed.
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