Did Rep. Eric Swalwell rip a big fart on live television? An investigation.

Yovanovitch Testifies on Trump Impeachment

We’re going to talk about farting a lot in this post, so if you find Fart Talk beneath you, just go. For all of us who rejoice in Fart Talk, this is a good one. Rep. Eric Swalwell is a congressman from California and he used to be running for the Democratic nomination for president, but he dropped out of the race. Good thing too, because his ALLEGED fart on live TV might have ended his campaign. Fartgate is real, people. Swalwell appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews and this happened:

Come on. We’ve all done it. I once farted in a college study group during a moment of silence and I will forever be horrified whenever I think about it. Swalwell clearly dealt it too, you can see the tension in his body as he lets it out, possibly because he thought – as we all have at some time – that it could have just been a sneaky, quiet one (silent but deadly). This happens as you get older too – you have to actually do a quick preparation, a body check, as you’re about to let one rip. That’s what you can see Swalwell do – I swear, he even rocks a little bit to get it out. That being said, a Buzzfeed reporter contacted Swalwell shortly after his gassy appearance on Hardball, and he denied being El Farter. He even denies hearing it, which is bonkers.

Some people theorized that Chris Matthews was the Farter and that Swalwell smiled because he could hear the fart in his earwig, but Hardball’s production team sent this tweet:

I’m sorry but no – that was not a mug-scraping sound it was a FART. I find it disturbing and indicative of the Trump Era of Politics that these fart denials are so obviously lies.

US House Judiciary Committee Hearing

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

52 Responses to “Did Rep. Eric Swalwell rip a big fart on live television? An investigation.”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Becks1 says:

    TOTALLY a fart lol. Embarrassing for sure but we have all been there to a certain extent (maybe not on live TV though lol). The mug scraping excuse is hilarious though.

  2. heygingersnaps says:

    Ever since I became a mum, I’ve had to rethink a lot of my complex/quirks and that includes normal bodily functions so that I don’t pass it on to my son. I sometimes have to remind my partner now to make fun or shame our son if he trumps or has an accident because I don’t want our son to take it the wrong way and develop a complex from it.
    I do understand that trumping can be a bit embarrassing in unfortunate public situations.

  3. Jennifer says:

    My 15yo son is sitting beside me watching this on repeat, studying every facial expression and doing serious analysis. It’s amazing. I’m so happy.

    • Nev says:

      Hahahahahahhah

    • Spicecake38 says:

      I’ve just alerted my 16 y o daughter so that she and her friends can debate this during study hall.Lol

    • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

      The micro- pause between the word delivery mid-sentence and the fart itself is the most convincing evidence, IMO. OTOH, he could be dishonest when he claims he didn’t hear it in his earpiece. The pause remains evidence of one or the other!!

      The rate of speech changes noticeably immediately before the fart.

      My spouse takes fiber every day. I know this sound too well.

  4. DaisySharp says:

    I’m not convinced it was a fart, but if it was, it was Matthews. He is so disgusting he is constantly burping right on air! I know there is a blind story going around, from long before this, that there is a serial farter at MSNBC and it is a big problem. I’m not joking! Google it. And I think it’s Matthews.

    • meme says:

      Yep. That guy didn’t flinch and I don’t think it was him. Matthews is a pig.

    • Miss America says:

      Same. I think it sounds like a phone vibrating on the desk. It’s the same length as a vibrating text tone or something similar.

      • Kebbie says:

        Yeah, phone or mug…it was obviously super close to a mic, so something on the desk in the msnbc studio makes way more sense than someone passing gas. You’d have to be farting directly into a mic for it to be THAT loud. I can’t believe so many people think it’s a fart.

  5. Emily says:

    Thank you for covering this breaking news. So, in my expert opinion, unless his butt was was mic’d, I don’t think it was his fart. While the pause in his sentence is suspicious, the fart in question was too loud to come from him. It was someone in the studio.

    Also, farts are the one time that Twitter is tolerable and we can all come together.

    • tiredTreaded says:

      We’ve all done hardcore adulting that leaves us w/ poor nutritional opportunities…yet the show must go on. I lecture to adults, and one class I literally farted -the entire class. My point is there are -times- when ourArrse simply rebels!

  6. Smee says:

    OMG he probably eats vegetables and is a human being.

    Now, let him get back to asking the hard questions we need answered.

  7. Digital Unicorn says:

    I think it was the news caster, he even leans forward just slightly before it cuts to the Swalwell guy. He totally had that am going to drop one look on his face.

  8. Cidy says:

    THAT WAS NOT A MUG. I am crying at my desk right now omg lmao he definitely paused speaking when the noise happened so… seems to me like he farted?

    • megs283 says:

      I cannot stop laughing and I am also crying, and I forced this video upon my coworker, who is DEFINITELY more mature than I am. I can’t wait to show this video to my three year old.

  9. Joanna says:

    Nah, I don’t think that was a fart.

  10. Louise177 says:

    Can’t believe this is even news. Sometimes you just can’t hold it and it slips out. It’s unfortunate it was on live tv but it’s normal body function.

    • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

      Farts will never cease to be funny. I’m a 53 year old adult.

      We desperately need levity in this country rich now.

  11. 10KTurtle says:

    Lol I will never not laugh when somebody farts in yoga class. It happens to everybody- giggle and move on with it, it always seems to relieve whatever embarrassment there might have been. My go-to follow up remark is: “And that’s what I think about that!”🤣

  12. Honeybadger says:

    I thought it sounded like a chair scrapping on the floor.

  13. Lenn says:

    Way too loud for it to be Swallwell. The pause is unfortunate but a coincidence.

  14. Miss America says:

    It doesn’t sound like a fart at all to me. It sounds like a phone vibrating on a table. They are really loud when they’re sitting on something hard.

  15. Lizzie says:

    i’m willing to 100% put it on chris matthews. you can tell by the way he interrupts people that he farts in public with impunity.

    swalwell actually seems like a cool dude. i think if it was him – he would actually fess up in a funny way.

    • FHMom says:

      I’m putting it on Matthews as well. He’s of the age when farts are difficult to hold in. Swalwell doesn’t seem like the type to deny it.

    • Esmom says:

      Lizzie, Yes. Last night Swalwell retweeted the MSNBC mug theory with the line “TOTAL EXONERATION!” Lol.

  16. Jerusha says:

    Tears are running down my face.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

    • L84Tea says:

      I should not have opened this at work. I am dying at my desk. 😀

      • openroses says:

        I too have tears streaming down my face. I forgot everything momentarily and am just howling with laughter at my desk (fortunately, my office has a door!) Funny how comedy can make everything better, even if only for a second.

  17. PlayItAgain says:

    It was Matthews. It was captured by the studio mic.

  18. Esmom says:

    This post is hilarious. The headline made me snort with laughter. I saw this last night, too, on Twitter but I can’t weigh in because I haven’t listened to the actual moment. I don’t want to hear it. My secondhand embarrassment is that off the charts. I like the theory that it’s Matthews, though.

  19. MeghanNotMarkle says:

    I’m kind of an expert on farts (I’m a mom of five) and this definitely sounded like a phone vibrating on a hard surface. The timing was just really unfortunate.

  20. mellie says:

    This is awesome…hey, I’m a trail runner and I’ve had to poop in the woods and if you are running in a conga line and have to fart, you go to the back of the back, it’s just a known rule of running etiquette…it’s part of life. The jokes/memes are great, junior high level comedy never gets old.

  21. Starkille says:

    Unless the representative man farts through his throat, or they had a mic on his anús, there is no way the fart (and yes, it is clearly a fart) came from him. I think Mathews waited for the representative to pause so he could pin it on him.

  22. LaUnicaAngelina says:

    This story, and especially the Kaiser take, is exactly what I needed today! My son has the flu and will be home all week. I’m here for all of the hilarious internet content!

  23. Amelie says:

    I dunno if that’s an actual fart? It sounds too “gimmicky” (like a fart sound you’d hear on SNL) to be a real one. But it’s still really funny and I think if someone did fart, it’s probably the host of the show. That would explain why this representative claims he didn’t hear anything (or he’s lying of course). Some people have suggested vibrating phone which I could see. Well anyway’s we’ll probably never really get to the bottom of this lol.

  24. M.A.F. says:

    They were talking about this on the local radio on my drive into work. They believe it was Matthews.

    Plus, it was a fart. One of them should just admit it and move on. We’ve all done it.

  25. Insomniac says:

    Chris Matthews totally looks like someone who farts in the elevator and blames it on the other guy. I bet it was him.

  26. ME says:

    It’s the pause he makes just at the moment the sound is made that makes people think it was him. Why did he pause if he wasn’t passing gas? I feel bad for him if it really wasn’t him but has to deal with public embarrassment (though the internet will move on to something else within 24 hours). That said, the tweets and memes are f*cking hilarious. I feel bad for laughing…no one wants to be in this situation, and so publicly.

  27. Mego says:

    It’s a fart. A normal bodily function. Nobody should be embarrassed about a normal bodily function. #endfartshaming #embracethefart