Look, it’s a crazy time. Everyone’s on edge, and not just because of the impeachment hearings involving our current president. We could all use a break, or at least a laugh. And right on cue, this appears to have done it: Someone appears to have farted on MSNBC.
OMFG SOUND ON pic.twitter.com/StziH3Yh49
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) November 19, 2019
The fart sound happened Monday night on MSNBC, while Hardball host Chris Matthews was interviewing California Representative Eric Swalwell. Swalwell is very much on the side that believes Donald J. Trump is guilty of using the powers of the presidency to try to get dirt on one of his opponents. He was offering an impassioned take when he was briefly interrupted by what sounded like a deep and rich bowel movement of sorts.
“Chris, so far the evidence is uncontradicted that the president used taxpayer dollars to help him cheat” — it was here that the sound of breaking wind rudely interrupted him — “an election.”
Swalwell texted BuzzFeed, claiming innocence. “It was not me!!!!!” he wrote them. “Ha. And I didn’t hear it when I was speaking.”
That seems dicey: He clearly pauses for the offending noise. But perhaps he’s not the source of the sound. Did Chris Matthews fart? We may get to the bottom of this quicker than we do the president’s alleged wrongdoings.
Till we learn the source of the fart, or whatever fart-like sound it may be, the incident brought Twitter together in juvenile harmony, even birthing an appropriate hashtag for these Nixonian times: #fartgate.
https://twitter.com/thejeremybell/status/1196611972445458432
So #fartgate is trending and I guess I should be appalled but tbh it's one of the few things Twitter does well and very possibly represents the ceiling of the site's abilities.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) November 19, 2019
There are two types of people in the world—
1. People who think farts are funny.
2. People who don’t think farts are funny.
It is pretty much all you need to know about a person. Which are you?
(I think they’re hilarious.)#fartgate
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/KevGordy/status/1196618416548917253
[November 18, 2029]
Kid: Dad – when did our country become so united and started actually working together again?
Me: Ten years ago a man named Eric Swalwell ripped a fart so amazing on TV that both parties got together to post memes, literally transcending politics. #fartgate
— The Darkest Timeline Numbersmuncher (@NumbersMuncher) November 19, 2019
This is the funniest trending article I've ever seen. #fartgate 🤣 pic.twitter.com/WRe5BVFeey
— Ashley Alanis (@_ashleyalanis) November 19, 2019
I get that some of you think Chris Matthews was the farter, but do you really think he has the skill and control to not only drop it perfectly between Swalwell's words, but also choreograph it seamlessly with Swalwell's body movement? #fartgate pic.twitter.com/6qYw8r0fTf
— The Darkest Timeline Numbersmuncher (@NumbersMuncher) November 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/NWyss79/status/1196629169888735233
The farts even inspired threads.
THREAD: I hate to let the air out of these #fartgate theories, but the inimitable laws of physics clearly point to Chris as the culprit. For one, Swalwell’s mic wouldn’t likely have picked it up in the noisy liveshot location…
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) November 19, 2019
Of course, some logical killjoys had to postulate theories that would ruin the fun.
https://twitter.com/seankent/status/1196621899146702848
But there’s always room for a counterpoint.
I’ve been a farter my entire life, and this is 100% ripping ass #fartgate pic.twitter.com/cqxE3Fyo9Q
— source julius (@brown4whatever) November 19, 2019
Anyway, enjoy this brief break from our national nightmare! The hearings start up again Tuesday.