If you lived during the 1990s and ever switched on a television, you probably remember former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and televangelist Pat Robertson denouncing swearing and railing against what they viewed as a culture shaped by decaying morals and values.
Fast forward to today, and many of the "moral majority" conservatives who used to warn that curse words were a "threat to our national values" are now singing a very different tune, MSNBC's Ari Melber said Monday night. In the wake of President Trump reportedly referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and unnamed African countries as "shitholes," Gingrich, who once called on corporations to stop doing business with radio stations that played rap music, has been silent, and so has former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who in 2016 said it was "unprofessional" and "just trashy" for people to drop F-bombs.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Margaret Atwood’s ‘deliciously naughty’ memoirIn the Spotlight ‘Bean-spilling’ book by The Handmaid’s Tale author is ‘immensely readable’
-
Being a school crossing guard has become a deadly jobUnder the Radar At least 230 crossing guards have been hit by cars over the last decade
-
Sudoku medium: November 4, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
