Democrats embrace the f-bomb

Democrats are embracing the f-bomb in congressional campaign messaging as they seek to tap into their party’s anger.

In recent weeks, a number of newly launched Democratic hopefuls for key House and Senate seats have pledged to “unf‑‑‑ our country” or have urged their party to “drop the excuses and grow a f‑‑‑ing spine.” 

The ads are indicative of the rising temperature in American politics generally, but they also underscore the ways politicians are trying to resonate with base voters, many of whom have expressed frustration with Democratic leaders.

“I think that in the case of the Democratic candidates … the swearing reflects their sense of crisis,” said Michael Adams, a lexicography expert and author of the book “In Praise of Profanity.” 

“There's just a point at which the usual vocabulary will not be sufficiently expressive in the moment,” Adams said. “I suspect that this is a ‘no, I really mean it,’ type of emphasis … All of the niceties, all of the conventions, all that stuff — we have to put that aside because the situation in which we find ourselves is so dire politically, culturally and historically, that we just need to act.”

Democrat Nathan Sage last week launched his campaign by decrying that farmers have been “f‑‑‑ed over” and vowing to “kick corporate Republican [Sen.] Joni Ernsts’s a‑‑” in the midterms. 

A spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) hit back, arguing that Democrats “seem obsessed with saying ‘f‑‑‑ing’ and ‘a‑‑’ as the strategy to win back the voters that rejected them in 2024.” They pointed The Hill to examples of sitting congressional Democrats leaning on the language lately. 

Sage appears as the latest of a handful of Democratic hopefuls who have used strong language in their polished ads. 

In New York, former journalist Mike Sacks earlier this month launched a Democratic challenge for Rep. Mike Lawler’s (R-N.Y.) Empire State seat, pledging to “unf‑‑‑ our country.” 

Challenging longtime Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) last month, progressive influencer Kat Abughazaleh told Democrats to “drop the excuses and grow a f‑‑‑ing spine.” 

“Lots of candidates use haughty, stilted language that sounds out of touch and even alienating. Kat sounds like a real person — and real people are f‑‑‑ing fed up with the status quo,” Abughazaleh’s campaign manager, Sam Weinberg, told The Hill.

Profanity, once seen as taboo in politics, has been increasingly common to hear from lawmakers and candidates on both sides of the aisle over the last few years, in line with a broader societal uptick in the acceptance of profanity across the last few decades. 

On one hand, swear words can slip out unintentionally, often amid heated emotions or as sharp reactions. Adams suggested that heightened political polarization, contentious election cycles and concerns about existential threats to democracy may make political figures more prone to it.

Research conducted by The Hill and GovPredict back in 2019 found the incidence of curse words from lawmakers on the social media site then-called Twitter, for example, jumped dramatically in the first year of President Trump’s first term. The New York Times dubbed Trump at the time as “the profanity president,” spotlighting his frequent use of four-letter insults.  

“When people find out about politicians swearing, it's often accidental, before Trump. Something that the politician didn't intend to be public, but that just got captured on a hot mic,” Adams said. “Trump came along and he kind of threw that aside.” 

Weinberg, from Abughazaleh’s campaign, said of the NRSC's response to Sage's bid that “it’s amusing that Republicans would be up in arms about candidates swearing” when Trump “has quite the knack for profanity.” 

But especially when it comes to carefully planned campaign launches or ads, experts say the use of such language likely has a considered political purpose as candidates work to connect with voters vexed by politics — and as some Democrats fret internally that the party has fallen out of touch with the majority. 

“The linguistic choices that professional politicians make are extremely tightly crafted,” said Ben Bergen, a professor of cognitive science at University of California San Diego and the author of a book about swearing. 

“It would surprise me if, for many of them, they were sort of stumbling into accidentally using profanity. The use is probably, in most cases, something that's strategic.”

Favorability for the Democratic Party hit record lows in polling from both CNN and NBC News last month, and Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill has drawn particular ire from young progressives for what they see as weak pushback to the Trump administration. 

Polling on how open voters are to hearing profanity from their political representatives is sparse, but evidence does indicate younger generations are more receptive, and Bergen noted a “radical generational shift” with respect to the f-bomb in recent years. 

“There are known consequences to how people judge you when you swear, and some of those might not be desirable for a politician: like, you're judged to be more out of control, possibly less intelligent, possibly less well educated,” Bergen said. 

“But then there are things that might be useful, judgments that folks might have about you that you might want: like, people who swear are judged to be more truthful, more genuine, more accessible, funnier, more passionate.” 

The 2024 election was “a wake-up call that we have to simplify our language,” said Democratic strategist Fred Hicks, from word choice to broader messaging. 

“Republicans have done a great job of painting Democrats as elitists, and the Democrats have done a great job of painting ourselves as elitists,” Hicks said. “Democrats bring a term paper to a knifefight.”  

But Demcorats will also want to avoid retooling their language in a way that comes across as performative or an obvious strategic move, especially when trying to reach young people. 

“[Democrats] can’t just go out there and throw f-bombs and hope it’s gonna land. It’s gotta be authentic,” Hicks said. 

It’s also not just congressional hopefuls that are tapping into the language. 

Ken Martin, newly elected chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), took heat online for telling tech billionaire Elon Musk last month to “go to hell.” He then doubled down in a post on social platform X, responding, “I said what I said.” The DNC itself also proudly touted Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) labeling of Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month as “a f‑‑‑ing liar.”

During a rally for federal workers in February, first-term Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) exemplified how some in her party are using the language to convey the urgency of the moment, saying: “I don’t swear in public very well, but we have to f‑‑‑ Trump.” She told The Oregonian afterward that "my only wish, frankly, is that I had said the line with more conviction."

“I think particularly younger Democrats have realized that the majority of voters, including their own voters, have regarded them as being asleep at the wheel and engaging in sort of somnolent, uninspiring messaging,” Democratic strategist Jon Reinish said.

“This reads to me as a quick attempt to show that there is some energy and a pulse, to maybe capture some younger voters who are so incredibly disappointed and disaffected,” Reinish said. “A quick way to show that there’s a spark of life.”