#Fartgate: Congressman Eric Swalwell denies farting live on MSNBC, clams it was a 'mug scraping across desk'
Congressman Eric Swalwell had a rather awkward moment on MSNBC's 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' on Monday. A clip of the interview went viral and in it, Swalwell seems to pass a slow and loud one as he spoke about the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
"Chris, so far, the evidence is uncontradicted that the president used taxpayer dollars to help him cheat an election,” Swalwell said as loud rip echoes in the video, roughly 34 seconds into the interview. Dubbed as #fartgate on Twitter, the speculation that Swalwell farted on live TV has sent Twitter into a laughter frenzy, with celebrities like Chrissy Teigan joining in on the conversation.
"I'm not saying that Swalwell was definitely the one that ripped it, but in slow motion you can see his body lift up momentarily as he takes a break from speaking just as the fart is unleashed. #fartgate," said a user while another joked, "Not sure if it was deadly, but definitely was NOT silent." Another netizen joked, "Literally laughed so hard I fell off the bed. @ericswalwellv is a great sport. Honestly - some of us needed this kind of belly laugh. Oh and Hardball, next time don’t drag mugs across tables while guests are talking"
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' actress Melissa Fumero tweeted, "I’m on set and I will not be able to say my lines cuz I can’t stop watching and reading about #fartgate. Old school Twitter is out to play tonight".
Another blamed it on the host. "If I've learned anything in my 32 years on this earth, it's that Chris Matthews definitely ripped that fart #fartgate"
Speaking to Buzzfeed, he denied the fart allegations and said, "It was not me!!!!!Ha. And I didn’t hear it when I was speaking."
Presidential candidate for 2020 Andrew Yang jumped to his aid. "I believe in Eric Swalwell," he said on Twitter. Hardball also tweeted clarifying that it was, in fact, a mug. "Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists - it was the #hardball mug scraping across the desk. Get yours today and let’s get back to the news!"