Cussing Comes to CNN

By DON ROLLINS

“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.” — Tim Walz

If you’ve taken offense at the increase in political profanity per the 2024 election cycle, you’re a dying breed. Because, according to research on cursing and politics, fewer of us care if our favorite candidates and commentators turn salty.

The clearest snapshot of our increasing political tolerance for “cussing light” remains the 2023 nationwide poll conducted by HarrisX (no relation) showing that while 68% of respondents age 65 and older still cringe at gritty language, 74% of Gen Zs are totally unfazed. Pair these numbers with the reality Generation Z will outnumber Boomers sometime in 2025, and it’s safe to say that despite unrelenting American religious piety, strategic swearing is here to stay.

While the more saintly among us cite political profanity as a lax in morals, not so the executives at CNN. Starting last March, the network began broadcasting Saturday night reruns of comedian/talk show host Bill Maher’s cuss-heavy “Real Time With Bill Maher.” No other politics-based TV personality to date has used profanity to such a degree; and the move by a mainstream news outlet to include Maher’s show signals at least some part of the viewing public is good with serious potty mouths.

Likewise “Have I Got News for You,” CNN’s version of a UK satirical commentary and panel show that skewers all things conservative. Debuting in September and hosted by the outrageously funny Roy Wood Jr., not a topic goes by without an accompanying barrage of expletives. No fooling, the proverbial sailors on leave would blush at some of the segments.

CNN is, of course, not operating in a political vacuum. Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Joe Biden — all are known to season their on-camera remarks with mild swearing, mostly damn and hell. Their comfort levels show how quickly cursing has become a currency whereby candidates sound earthy, tough and one-of-you.

Yet the tack CNN is taking is singularly important. Two productions that only a decade ago would be anathema to a network their size are now featured front and center. If another mainstream news provider is contemplating such a risk, we’re yet to hear about it. And probably won’t.

In between the biting comedy central to both of these shows are real issues, real people and real fear that things are out of control. Describing them in gritty terms won’t fix anything, but it may draw our attention to places the nice words never will.

Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, November 15, 2024

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