WTF? Embracing profanity is one thing both political parties seem to agree on
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaking the President Barack Obama’s The Vice President reached into a place he thought was private and pulled her in Joe Biden delivered a clear message: “This is a big deal.” The remarks, heard over live microphones at a 2010 Affordable Care Act ceremony, caused a sensation because open profanity from a national leader was unusual at the time.
After more than 15 years, vulgarity is now in fashion.
during a political rally The goal is to focus on fighting inflation in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, the president said. Donald Trump He used profanity at least four times. At one point he even admitted to disparaging Haiti and African nations: “ shithole countries He denied the comment at the time, in a private meeting in 2018. And in front of a line of cameras at a lengthy Cabinet meeting last week, the Republican president referred to alleged drug traffickers as “sons of whores.”
While the Biden incident is accidental, the frequency, sharpness and public nature of Trump’s comments are intentional. They are developing his project to combat what he sees as rampant political correctness. Leaders of both parties appear to be racing toward the verbal abyss.
Vice President J.D. Vance in the name He hosts a podcast “dips-t” in September. In his Thanksgiving speech to the troops, Vance joked that anyone who said they loved turkey was “full of ss.” Top Trump aide Steven Cheung told a reporter after a National Guard member was killed and another was seriously injured in a shooting in Washington last month. on social media He had to “shut up” when he wrote that the deployment of troops to the nation’s capital was “for political demonstration.”
Former Vice President among Democrats Kamala Harris He won a roaring approval from his audience in September when he denounced the Trump administration as “those moms———- crazy.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., after Trump called for the execution of several Democratic members of Congress last month. in question It was time for people of influence to “choose a side”. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration “can’t play around” with the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who announced her Senate campaign in Texas on Monday, didn’t hold back earlier this year. when asked What Elon Musk would say if given the chance: “F—- off.”
The volley of crude expressions underscores an increasingly intense political environment that often occurs on social media or other digital platforms, where posts or video clips that evoke the strongest emotions are rewarded with the most engagement.
“If you want to be angry at someone, you should be angry at social media companies,” Utah Governor said. Spencer CoxA Republican said he spoke at an event focused on political civility at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday night. “This isn’t a fair fight. They’ve taken over our brains. They understand these dopamine hits. Anger sells.”
Cox, whose national profile Soars after conservative activist calls for civility Charlie Kirk’s assassination in his own state, approved Overhauling social media laws aimed at protecting children. There’s a federal judge temporarily blocked State Law.
Harsh political speeches are nothing new
Tough talk is nothing new in politics, but leaders have long avoided flaunting it.
Records of Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, for example, revealed a rude, profane side of his personality that had been largely kept secret. Republican Richard Nixon complained about his abusive language being recorded on tape in the Oval Office. “Millions of people were shocked that neither I nor most other presidents used profanity in public,” Nixon wrote in his book “In the Arena.”
“Politicians have always taken oaths behind closed doors,” said Benjamin Bergen, a professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California-San Diego and author of “What the F: What profanity reveals about our language, our brains, and ourselves.” “The biggest change in the last 10 years is that it has become much more public.”
As both parties prepare for the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential campaign, the question is whether this language will increasingly become mainstream. Republicans who simply try to emulate Trump’s brash style don’t always succeed with voters. Democrats who turn to vulgar words run the risk of appearing inauthentic if their words feel forced.
For some, this is just a distraction.
“This is not necessary,” the GOP Rep. said. Don Bacon He will retire next year after winning five elections in one of the most competitive House districts in Nebraska. “If that’s what it takes to get your point across, you’re not a good communicator.”
There are risks to overusing profanity
There is also the risk that such language, if overused, shocks audiences and diminishes its usefulness as a method of connecting with them. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld He spoke about this problem, stating that he used profanities in his early routines but dropped them as his career progressed because he felt that profanity only led to cheap laughs.
“I felt good, I just laughed because I said f— there,” he said 2020 interview on the WTF podcast with comedian Marc Maron. “You couldn’t find the gold.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said Trump “doesn’t care about being politically correct, he cares about Making America Great Again. The American people love how authentic, transparent and effective the President is.”
But according to Trump, the most controversial remarks focus on slurs that can be interpreted as hurtful rather than traditional swearing. The final weeks of the 2016 campaign were shaken by an incident. the band appeared When discussing grabbing women by their genitals, he minimized his language to “locker room talk”. His “shithole” remarks in 2018 were widely condemned as racist.
More recently, Trump called a female journalist a “piggy,” which his press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented defended as evidence of a “very outspoken and honest” president. Trump’s use of slurs about people with disabilities prompted an Indiana Republican whose child has Down syndrome to oppose the president’s push to redraw the state’s congressional districts.
In rare cases, politicians express regret for their choice of words. In an interview with Atlantic Released last week, Gov. Josh ShapiroD-Pa., rejected Harris’ portrayal of her in his book about last year’s presidential campaign, saying Harris was “trying to sell books and cover it up.”
He seemed to recover quickly.
“I shouldn’t say ‘cover him up’…” he said. “I don’t think this is appropriate.”
