Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is rebuking U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden for cursing at a group of Senate pages late Wednesday night.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed the New York Dem’s comments.
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Van Orden, a freshman Republican from Prairie du Chien, while giving a Capitol tour saw a group of Senate pages who were lying on the rotunda floor to take pictures of the dome. He called them “lazy shits” and told them to “get the fuck up.” Yesterday marked the Senate pages’ last day working in the Capitol.
“I was shocked when I heard about it. And I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people,” Schumer said. “I can’t speak for the House of Representatives, but I do not think that one member’s disrespect is shared by this body — by Leader McConnell and myself.”
McConnell, R-Ky., in response to Van Orden’s actions said “everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way.”
Van Orden defended himself yesterday after PunchBowl News broke the story, saying he stood up for what’s right and “luckily, bad press has never bothered me.”
In a statement, the former U.S. Navy SEAL noted the Capitol rotunda served as a field hospital for Union soldiers during the Civil War.
“I have long said our nation’s Capitol is a symbol of the sacrifice our servicemen and women have made for this country and should never be treated like a frat house common room,” Van Orden said. “Threatening a congressman with bad press to excuse poor behavior is a reminder of everything that’s wrong with Washington.”
State Dem Party spokesperson Joe Oslund argued the incident is just the latest example of Van Orden’s “disturbing conduct.”
“From threatening a teenage staff member at the public library, to attempting to carry a loaded firearm onto a commercial aircraft, to crossing police lines on January 6th, Derrick Van Orden has demonstrated time and again that he simply lacks the temperament and good judgment to serve,” Oslund said in a statement.
Dems have also started fundraising off of the incident, with Chair Ben Wikler in a tweet encouraging voters to split donations between the state Dem Party and the WI-03 2024 Democratic Nominee Fund. So far, Eau Claire nonprofit owner Rebecca Cooke is the only Dem to officially launch a bid so far.
