White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed President Donald Trump’s public use of profanity, both during Friday afternoon’s press briefing and in previous instances.
Why It Matters
In America’s increasingly divisive election cycles, many of the so-called “seven words you can never say on television”, as coined by comedian George Carlin, actually have been uttered on TV, on the stump, at rallies and even alluded to in ads. This normalization of profanity is seen as a direct result of the way public speech has become rougher, particularly in the age of social media.
Why It Matters
On Thursday, following Wednesday night’s deadly collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter, Trump said that former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg ran the department “into the ground with his diversity.”
President Trump on former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “A real winner. Do you know how badly everything has run since he’s run the Department of Transportation. He’s a disaster…he’s just got a good line of bullshit.” pic.twitter.com/TTYrtmFRRU
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 30, 2025
“A real winner. Do you know how badly everything has run since he’s run the Department of Transportation. He’s a disaster,” Trump said. “He’s just got a good line of bulls***.”
Leavitt was asked by a Newsmax reporter at the end of the press conference about how the president “perceives his use of public profanity.” The journalist asked Leavitt about Trump discussing God and offering a moment of silence but also “using an expletive to insult a former cabinet officer.”
Leavitt responded, “One of the things the American people love the most about this president is he often says what they were thinking but lack the courage to say themselves. Yesterday at this podium, you heard President Trump express frustration, even anger, about the previous administration’s policies – many of which have led to the crisis our country is currently facing, and that this President is focused on fixing.”
US President Donald Trump takes a question as he speaks about the mid-air crash between American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter in Washington, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Trump and His Explicative Use
Trump has not been a stranger to profanity, having changed the game when it comes to expletives in politics. He has been known to use strong language in his speeches, interviews and rallies.
In the now infamous Access Hollywood tape Trump, during his time hosting “The Apprentice” on NBC, was heard saying he likes to grab women by the “p****”.
During other interviews with reporters in heated moments, he’s called people “f***ing liars,” and he’s referred to news articles as “f***ing jokes.”
Since then, there have been myriad examples of his public use of profanity in and out of office, like when referred to Haiti, El Salvador and nations in Africa as “s***hole” countries in 2018.
During the 2024 presidential election, he even referred to Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent, as a “s*** vice president.” He has also called his opponents “f***ing losers” and “a f***ing disaster.”
What People Are Saying
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg posted. “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”
What’s Next
Trump should be expected to not limit his language in anyway going forward.
Update 01/31/25 2:24 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
