Rolling Stone: “His reputation for having one of the shortest fuses in Congress was once again reaffirmed…”
Derrick Van Orden had yet another inappropriate public outburst, this week “unleash[ing a] profanity-filled tirade” on White House officials during a briefing on the terrorist attacks in Israel. Days later, he has still refused to apologize for his “rude” and “belligerent” outburst.
This is far from Van Orden’s first temper tantrum. Just a few months ago, he berated and cursed at high school Senate pages in the U.S. Capitol. Rather than apologizing, he doubled down on his behavior, insisting the students were being “disrespectful” to the grounds – though that didn’t stop him from taking a trip to those very grounds on January 6th.
On the campaign trail last year, Van Orden lost his temper in an “aggressive” and “threatening” manner at a teenage library worker over a book display. Time and time again, Van Orden has shown Wisconsinites just how unfit for office he is.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) verbally attacked officials with the Biden Administration during a congressional briefing on the Israel-Gaza war Wednesday, multiple outlets reported, including launching obscenities at a Jewish congressman—marking the second time in a matter of months that Van Orden has unleashed his temper at work.
Democrats also strongly rebuked Van Orden in July when he allegedly yelled at Senate pages lying on the floor of the Capitol rotunda to take photos of the ceiling, calling them “lazy s—ts” and ordering them to “get the f—k up,” Punchbowl News reported.
Van Orden refused to apologize for the July incident and accused the pages of treating the Capitol as a “frat house common room.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden has moved on from cussing out teenagers to cussing out White House staff providing Congress with national security briefings.
Van Orden reportedly interrupted a congressional briefing by White House officials on the unfolding conflict between Israel and Hamas, cursing at the presenters, calling them “pathetic,” and yelling “fuck you” at Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), according to Politico. Phillips, a Jewish Democrat, had reportedly interjected into Van Orden’s verbal tirade with an exclamation of “shame on you.”
The outburst over the Israel-Hamas conflict isn’t the first time the Wisconsin Republican has displayed an explosive temper.
Van Orden was criticized in July by both Republicans and Democrats after he publicly berated a group of Senate pages. One of them had briefly laid down on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda to take a picture of the building’s historic dome.
“Wake the fuck up you little shits,” Van Orden reportedly screamed at the group of teenagers. “Get the fuck out of here. You are defiling the space.” The representative allegedly called the pages “jackasses” and “lazy shits.”
Van Orden also reportedly threatened a 17-year-old library employee over a book display featuring LGBTQ-related titles while he was campaigning for office in 2021. The employee, Kerrigan Trautsch, described Van Orden as being “loud, he was aggressive, he had his finger jabbing into (the book) constantly,” and called the incident “very uncomfortable,” and “threatening.” Van Orden never apologized for this incident, either.
His reputation for having one of the shortest fuses in Congress was once again reaffirmed on Wednesday.
United States Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin) is not apologizing for what critics described as a profanity-laced outburst during a White House briefing on the Hamas attack on Israel.
The outlet said multiple people recalled Van Orden cursing at the people leading the briefing, leading to boos in the room.
“One member, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota), shouted, “Shame on you,” in response to Van Orden’s verbal affront — prompting Van Orden to drop an f-bomb toward the Minnesota Democrat, who is Jewish,” Politico reported.
Democrats are furious at GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden for a curse-laden outburst that interrupted a White House briefing on the Israel terrorist attack.
Multiple attendees described Van Orden (R-Wis.) as acting belligerent towards the Biden administration briefers when he asked questions. Several people said Van Orden cursed directly at the briefers, prompting loud boos in the room. One person in the room said Van Orden shouted that the briefers’ presentation was “pathetic.” Another attendee described it as “offensive and inappropriate.”
Van Orden’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Senate leaders in both parties spoke out against his behavior toward their chamber’s pages in July, when Van Orden used profanity toward a group of the young people.
