#Fartgate: Did Rep. Eric Swalwell Rip One on Live TV?

Brittany M. Hughes | November 19, 2019

California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell lit the internet on fire Monday night after an audible…how to say this politely…”fart noise” could be heard during his live interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

The clip from Matthews’ nightly Hardball show quickly made the rounds on Twitter after either Swalwell or Matthews appeared to expel gas during Swalwell’s on-air statement. (Don’t ask me what he was talking about in the moment. I’ve watched the clip at least 25 times and still couldn’t tell you.)

During the clip, and its noisy interruption, Swalwell appears to tense up and pause just before the flatulence sounds off, though it’s not clear if He Who Smelt It Dealt It, or if the congressman was simply reacting to someone else (Matthews?) letting one rip. 

Here’s the clip, judge for yourself.
 


Of course, the internet immediately went wild with all manner of jokes, memes and speculation as to who’d fired the shot.
 

 


MSNBC responded to Fartgate by claiming the noise was a “Hardball mug scraping across the desk,” and telling users to buy a coffee cup.
 


But unless a mug sliding over plastic can sound like a human cutting the cheese, that’s fake news and we all know it. Guess MNSBC really is the enema of the people.