Congressman courses at teen Senate pages during capitol tour - USA Trending Blog
Congressman courses at teen Senate pages during capitol tour - USA Trending Blog
Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden yelled and cursed at a group of high school-aged Senate pages while giving a late-night tour of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday an action that drew a rebuke from Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Van Orden, who represents Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, called the pages "lazy s----" and told them to "get the f--- up" off the floor as the pages were lying on their backs in the Capitol Rotunda taking pictures of the building's dome during their final week at work, according to PunchBowl News.
Senate pages are typically teens nominated by their home state senator to help out around the Senate side of the Capitol, opening doors for senators and delivering correspondence, among other tasks.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Thursday, Van Orden did not dispute the report but rather noted the Capitol Rotunda was used as a field hospital during the Civil War for "countless" Union soldiers.
"I would think that it’d be terribly disrespectful to lay on the grave of a soldier that died fighting for freedom," Van Orden told the Journal Sentinel. "And I don't know anybody that disagrees."
He added later in an emailed statement that the Capitol "should never be treated like a frat house common room. Threatening a congressman with bad press to excuse poor behavior is a reminder of everything that’s wrong with Washington. Luckily, bad press has never bothered me and if it's the price I pay to stand up for what's right, then so be it."
The apparent outburst was the latest for Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL whose two campaigns for Wisconsin's rural western district were checkered with online outbursts against detractors and temperamental behavior. In one incident from June 2021, Van Orden reportedly berated a teenage librarian over an LGBT+ book display. Van Orden at the time checked out every available book from the display before eventually returning them.
Wednesday night's incident clashes with Van Orden's effort to moderate his image since he entered Congress in January and present himself as someone working behind the scenes in a bipartisan manner.
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