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United States Representative Eric Swalwell had a viral moment on Monday night during an interview with MSNBC on Hardball with Chris Mathews. The 39-year-old California Democrat was discussing Donald Trump’s taxes when he appeared to let out an audible fart.
Swalwell was mid-sentence when the fart heard around the world rang out.
That moment led to the hashtag “#FartGate” jumping to the top trend on Twitter as people around the country tried to determine the source of the noise. For their part, the official Twitter account of Hardball with Chris Matthews denied Swalwell was responsible.
“Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists – it was the #hardball mug scraping across the desk,” the show wrote on Twitter. “Get yours today and let’s get back to the news!” Swalwell also denied it was him during a text exchange with a Buzzfeed reporter.
“It was not me!!!!!” he texted. “Ha. And I didn’t hear it when I was speaking.”
You be the judge:
If that is indeed a fart, not only does Swalwell have a powerful stomach, but those MSNBC microphones are damn good at picking up sound. Some people had way too much fun with the audio after it began going viral.
We even had play-by-play breakdowns of the moment.
“Swalwell denies responsibility for this fart but a careful examination of the evidence reveals the truth. Notice how he pauses at the relevant moment. Notice too how he slightly elevates his body hoping to clear a passageway for a silent emission,” reporter Matt Walsh wrote on Twitter. “It’s clear beyond any doubt that at a minimum he heard the fart. You can even see his facial expression change. But his facial expression even before the fateful moment seems pregnant with dread and anticipation. He knows a fart is coming. Because he is its source.
“Here is Swalwell 3 seconds before ignition. This is the look of a man who knows he is about to let one rip on live television. This is the look of a man watching his whole life flash before his eyes.”
God bless the internet. Who would have ever guessed a fart (allegedly) would bring us all together.
