If you follow politics today you might notice a certain four-letter word being thrown around a lot more than it used to be. We won’t say it here, but it starts with an f.
Now, there was a time in politics when using any kind of even mild profanity was taboo. But today the F-bomb is everywhere. In fact, the New York Times did an analysis of this and found on social media and in speeches politicians of all stripes are embracing profanity.
And one politician tops the list: Arizona’s own junior Sen. Ruben Gallego.
“Hey, this is Ruben Gallego. I'm traveling through Arizona right now and I just seen the news that Department of Defense is starting a investigation against my seatmate, Mark Kelly. This is f-cking insane. We should all point out how f–cking insane this is. Secretary Hegseth, all these guys, f–ck you guys. You're not going to be able to scare us,” Gallego said in a social media post.
The Show spoke more about what swearing signals to voters, and the thin line between authenticity and shock value with Tucson-based linguist Megan Figueroa.
She hosts the Vocal Fries podcast and said this is all part of the Trump era trend of rejecting politician speak and decorum in politics. This conversation may not be appropriate for all viewers.
Full conversation
MEGAN FIGUEROA: We’ve heard him say plenty of vulgarities along the way over this past decade. I think we really started to see this like decorum shift within politicians with Trump, especially lately, because there seems to be this urgency around politics, around what our politicians can do for our country, what’s happening to our country. It’s a very emotive situation, and you know, profanity is emotive.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah, yeah. So, it kind of does seem to be of the era of Trump politics, right? But if you look at this New York Times analysis, one of the things that I think is surprising in there is that they find that Democratic politicians are using it more often than folks on the right. And it’s in particular this embrace of the F-word, right? Do you think that has to do with, particularly Democratic politicians, kind of outrage right now?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Absolutely, it’s 100% that. If there’s one thing about profanity, about swearing, it’s that it’s emotive. It is a way to express strong emotions, to show that you disagree with something, that something is upsetting.
And if you are a Democrat, if you are on the left, it’s a very upsetting time in our country. And for the Democrats to be embracing this language, specifically the F-bomb, it’s just a way of them trying to strategically align with you and me over what’s happening in this country and a way to signal that they see us.
LAUREN GILGER: That’s interesting. It also comes as Democrats in particular, I think, are trying to sort of fight against this notion in politics today that they are out of touch with “real people.” That they’re like all sitting in ivory towers somewhere, right?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Oh, yes. ... Stephen Colbert did an interview with former President Barack Obama last week, and President Obama is saying, “You know, we really need to learn how to talk to people. We don’t need to be giving college seminars” type of thing.
And there is this idea on the left that we are embracing language that is not used by the everyday person. So, a lot of, like, advocate speak. So, I can’t help but think that this is kind of a way to push back on the idea that Democrats are in the ivory tower, that they don’t know what’s happening with the boots on the ground, this use of profanity.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. Are there particular moments you think, Megan, when this is really effective and has been for folks?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Absolutely. So, when I think about when it really registered to me that there was some sort of shift that was more recent than just 10 years ago when Trump came into the scene, was when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, when ICE was in Minneapolis, he held a press conference which of course is this very — if you think about the context of a press conference — what is the decorum here? It’s that you’re very professional, you have cameras on you, like, this is going to go out to a wide audience, and you’re a politician, right?
So, you have a certain way that people expect you to speak. And, he said to ICE, “Get the f-ck out of Minneapolis.”
JACOB FREY: To ICE, get the f-ck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.
MEGAN FIGUEROA: And that was just — for me, I don’t find the F-bomb jarring. But for me I was like, this is something that I’m noting because we have a politician who is like, you know, fed up. He is seeing people die in the streets of the city that he is the mayor of.
It was very emotive, it was very real and authentic. And I just felt like, finally. Like my thought was finally, that language is so appropriate for the situation, even if it’s a politician.
GILGER: So when we’re talking about the effectiveness here, there is actual research on this, right? Like, on when it’s salient. Sometimes when the F-word is used, it can be more memorable to people, or it creates social bonding. Like, there are, it seems, real linguistic tools at work here.
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Yeah, so some of my colleagues have done this work. I’ve talked to them through my podcast, and I’ve read their research when I was in my Ph.D. program, because swearing is such an interesting thing linguistically.
But it is the case that it like relieves pain, it shows solidarity with people of certain groups. It can even signal to people that, “Hey, we both had a really bad day at work, and using this word means that we’re in it together.”
Like, there’s just so many different uses of it, and not only does it relieve pain, it like helps you tolerate pain longer. There’s research on this, so it’s just like this very interesting set of words that defines whatever profanity is in a certain language that it’s doing a lot of work. And, you know, I don’t think politicians are unaware of like the rhetorical benefits of, you know, attempting to put this into their politician-speak.
GILGER: Let’s talk about Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego for a moment because the New York Times analysis did find that he is by far and away the politician who uses this F-word the most. Do you think it works for him?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: This is really interesting because given the context — and I’ve heard him speak to this. He made a comment about something like, “Oh, you know, I was in the Marines for too long,” so that’s why he swears so much, right?
You know, we also have the fact that he is Latino, so there might be some sort of idea that Latino men are more likely to be kind of crude and use this kind of language. So, they’re like, oh, of course he’s doing that. So that can’t be ruled out.
There are these like intersecting identities for him where it’s like, oh, I can see why people are like, oh, this is authentic because X, Y and Z about his identities. But at the same time, he uses it so much, it gets to the point where you’re wondering, you’re just thinking about the strategy that he’s playing, and I think that there is room there for some people to find it inauthentic because it does seem to be so strategic.
GILGER: That brings me to my next question, Megan: Who gets to swear? Like, who are we OK with swearing in this country? Are you as likely to see women, for example, using profanity like this?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Right? No, and going back to um, Gallego, I think there is some like leeway for him because of the military component that yeah, of course it makes sense that he’s swearing. Also, the number one thing, he’s a man.
So women are going to struggle in this area because there’s the idea that — I’ve been in situations where a man has like apologized to me for using profanity in front of me, as if I can’t handle it, right? And so, like, I don’t think I’m the only woman that is heard that. Definitely not, right?
And so the idea of women actually using it themselves, there’s this idea that this is a vulgar woman. This is not a woman that knows how to act and play in society, like she has no decorum. For some women, especially women of color, it may seem like they are very aggressive.
And we just don’t see it as much as we see like Ruben Gallego or (California Gov. ) Gavin Newsom or (U.S. Sen.) John Fetterman using profanity. We’re just not seeing women at the same rate, and it’s because of this bind that we are in that we will be assumed to not be fit for the office.
But it’s funny, just this weekend, (U.S. Sen.) Tina Smith of Minnesota on BlueSky swore. I just want to quote that. And this is um, regarding (Health and Human Services Secretary) RFK Jr.’s trying to ban some widely used antidepressants or exploring how that can be done.
She said, “People like care a whole lot about relying on SSRIs to make their lives work. I don’t know where I would be without SSRIs. Get your f-cking hands and your crazy conspiracy theories out of our medicine cabinets.”
GILGER: Mm, so it is crossing those boundaries, too. So, as you watch this become more normalized in the political sphere, Megan, like, do you think that says something about, I guess, the state of the country? Like, we talk so much about this divisive moment and all of this heated rhetoric, is this just all hand-in-hand with vulgarity in our language?
MEGAN FIGUEROA: Absolutely. It is really indicative of what’s happening in our country, and something that I’ve been considering when it comes to profanity and this idea that some people —I mean, some people are never going to be OK with politicians swearing.
But we are in this moment where it seems like it’s really important to be emotive because it’s scary out there. Institutions are changing at a rapid pace and not for the better ... depending on who you ask.
And so the idea of saying the F-bomb seems so innocent to me and so OK compared to when I think of what also could be considered profane is something like um, this past week Trump called a Black reporter stupid. And so, it’s like that question of what really is profane at this moment.
GILGER: Oh, how the times have changed. OK, Megan Figueroa, a linguist based in Tucson, host of the Vocal Fries podcast. Thank you so much, Megan, for coming back on The Show. I really appreciate the conversation.
MEGAN FIGUEROA: I appreciate it, Lauren.
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