I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics
I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics Authored by Jonathan Turley,“Respectfully, f–k off.” Those words by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, summed up the current race to the bottom of American politics.Democrats appear in a competition of the profane where voters are now subject to a virtual carpet-bombing of f-bombs and other indecent language.Gardon’s response was to a standard media inquiry after Newsom’s controversial statement to a black interviewer.In an Atlanta event, Newsom declared: “I’m like you ... I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy ... literally a 960 SAT guy. You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.” It was widely denounced as racist, but Newsom insisted that he was only talking about his struggle with dyslexia.The spin quickly fell apart after his statement, “I’m like you ... I’m no better than you,” which suggested he thought the audience in Atlanta had low scores.Reporters followed up to ask for proof about his disability, including his claim that “I cannot read.” The response was an f-bomb from Gardon.Newsom, too, unleashed a profane attack on Sean Hannity of Fox News — who gave the California governor a chance to respond to his critics.When Hannity criticized Newsom’s comments in Atlanta, the governor posted several four-letter words on X, concluding with: “Spare me your fake f—ing outrage.”There was a time when political leaders maintained basic standards of civility and avoided profanity in public.Presidents like Lyndon Johnson could be quite salty in private, but drew a line in public.Notably, one of Richard Nixon’s objections to his tapes being made public was the inclusion of foul language used in the Oval Office. He noted in his book In the Arena that “since neither I nor most other presidents had ever used profanity in public, millions were shocked.”It was not long ago that Trump’s then-new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci shocked many with a profane diatribe.He defended it as “an Italian thing.”At the time, I wrote that, as someone who was raised in an Italian family, we clearly had a different upbringing. I noted that if I used that language in public, my Sicilian grandmother would have ended the diatribe with a backhand.Profanity sometimes added to the mystique of military leaders who sought to convey that they were unconcerned with social norms as warriors.Gen. George Patton was known to drop some doozies. In one scene in the famous eponymous movie, Patton is asked about the Bible next to his bed and whether he really prayed. Patton responds, “I sure do ... Every godd–n day...”Politics was different. The public once looked to political leaders as role models who exemplified social norms.It now appears that profanity is viewed as an essential element of political speech on the left.Katie Porter this week thrilled a crowd by waving around a sign reading “F–k Trump.”Porter was previously criticized for using such language to abuse staffers to “get out of my f–cking shot” in an interview.At the State of the Union, Rep. Rashida Tlaib wore a button on the House floor reading “F–k Ice.”Such behavior is not just limited to Democrats. President Trump has used profanity on occasion.However, the Democrats appear to have made profanity a signature element in their campaigns.Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, seems a perpetual profanity machine, regularly telling figures like Elon Musk to “f–k off” and dropping the f-bomb at a higher rate than prepositions.Some are virtually giggly over swearing in public. Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) declared, “I don’t swear in public very well, but we have to f–k Trump. Please don’t tell my children that I just did that.” The crowd roared with approval that Dexter was feigning being naughty with dirty words.There is a belief that profanity is a way to connect to younger voters who trash-talk and seem to like what was once called “potty mouths.”However, there is also a clear use of profanity as a way to establish your bona fides with the mob.Trashing conventions of civility and decency is a way to convey that you are part of a radical chic.Figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have tried cringeworthy efforts to connect with voters by dancing or cooking burgers. Schumer then joined his colleagues in dropping the f-bomb to show that he is very, very angry.The use of profanity has risen alongside the rise in rage rhetoric.Democratic politicians now regularly call Trump, Republicans, and law enforcement “Nazis” and “Gestapo.” Many are promising to carry out a crackdown on Trump supporters once they are returned to power, including through criminal prosecutions.Figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have tried cringeworthy efforts to connect with voters.The devolution of American politics is occurring as politicians and pundits call for radical changes to our constitutional system. Showing that you do not respect social conventions adds to your cache as a radical leader.In my book Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I explore comparisons with our current politics and the conditions that led to the French Revolution.There is a value to dehumanizing one’s opponents to justify radical, even violent, action. Profanity conveys your self-authenticating anger to the mob. You may be an establishment politician, but you are one of them.It rarely lasts. Revolutions tend to devour their own.Swearing up a storm will not satisfy the mob very long. Democrats hope to ride the rage wave back into power and assume that, once they have that power, the mob will simply disappear in gratitude.It is likely that politicians of both parties will continue this trend toward potty-mouth politics. If you are speaking with civility, you are not mad enough.These politicians are feeding a rage addiction in this country by showing that they do not respect any limits of decency or decorum in seeking radical changes.Mark Twain said that “under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” The difference today is that the profanity itself is a prayer by politicians seeking power.There is a belief that, if you want to be sworn in as the new governor of California or senator from Texas, you’d better start swearing now.Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the New York Times bestselling “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.” Tyler DurdenSun, 03/01/2026 - 21:40
