WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – Delaware Senator Tom Carper was caught uttering a series of expletives to an aide as he struggled to unmute himself during a widely-watched US Postal Service hearing on Friday (Aug 21), an unintentional window into one of the shortcomings of virtual pandemic-era meetings.

Carper, a Democrat, was in line to question Postmaster-General Louis DeJoy but was not heard by committee chairman Ron Johnson, who then sought to move on to the next questioner.

Carper than uttered three F-bombs, prompting Senator James Lankford to say “Mr Chairman, I think Senator Carper is there, I think he’s trying to be able to queue it all up right now.”

Johnson then called on Carper and appeared to allude to Carper’s comments: “We don’t want to be on TV again.”

Carper then proceeded with his questions.

A spokeswoman for Carper said he “got frustrated with technical difficulties this morning, but that pales in comparison to his frustration with a Postmaster-General who’s actively undermining the US Postal Service during a national crisis.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many US governmental meetings and speeches have been conducted remotely and a number of unfortunate moments or technical woes have been captured.

A toilet flushed during a Supreme Court argument, while others have been caught swearing.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer mouthed an expletive on a live feed before she spoke before the Democratic National Committee earlier this week.

Source: Read Full Article