Given the choice between an f-bomb on live TV and a 30,000-pound bunker buster that can penetrate 60 feet of concrete and 200 feet of earth before exploding, I’d choose the f-bomb every time,
Yet, days after President Trump unleashed the thunder with a bombing campaign that “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear weapons arsenal, many pearl clutchers are still shocked and outraged that the leader of the free world would step in front of a bank of microphones and curse like he was at a ballgame with the boys.
With the propellers from Marine One whirling in the background, and reporters shouting questions at him, Trump minced no words expressing his frustration with Iran and Israel over their latest conflict.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f—k they’re doing,” Trump said to reporters as he left the White House. ”You understand that?”
Trump, who had launched his own attack on Iran last week in support of Israel, said he was angry with both countries for violating the conditions of a ceasefire agreement that he had taken credit for brokering.
Trump, of course, is no stranger to coarse language.
It was Trump, after all, who coined the famous phrase, “Grab ‘em by the p—-y,” during a hot mic moment nearly a decade ago about how easy it was for stars like him to attract beautiful women.
Trump survived the controversy, and went on to be elected. Twice.
Trump isn’t the only president to have used the f-word in public. His predecessor, Joe Biden, got caught by a hot mic when, as vice president, he told then-President Barack Obama that passing the Affordable Care Act was a “big f—king deal.”
That became a big deal.
Even saintly Jimmy Carter was said to have used the f-word, albeit in a private setting, according to one account. Ironically, the subject was also Iran.
In 1979, Carter was weighing whether to let the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, come to the United States to receive medical care.
“He was under an enormous amount of pressure,” Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia told NPR. “He just broke at one point and said, ‘F the Shah.’”
But Carter relented, and the Shah was admitted to the U.S., a move that angered Iran’s new leadership. Weeks later, more than 50 hostages were taken from the embassy in Iran, and held for 444 days.
The United States’ relationship with Iran has been tense ever since.
On June 20, the president, in the basement of the White House Situation Room wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, authorized airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Officials said the decision to strike was made after it became clear that Iran was not ready to return to the table and sign off on a nuclear arms deal.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said a few hours later. “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”
A week earlier, Israel had launched its own attack against nuclear and military targets in Iran, leading to days of missile strikes from both sides.
The Trump administration initially distanced itself from the attack, saying the U.S. was not involved. Days later, the American military was all in.
Following the U.S. attack, Trump announced a ceasefire that, in his own words, could “go forever.” It didn’t, and an angry Trump lashed out at both sides. His language shocked many Americans.
But on the grand list of Trump offenses — war mongering, trying to overthrow the government, dismantling diversity — his use of profanity is the least of his vulgar acts.
