Rep. Derrick Van Orden on defense after cursing at teenage Senate pages: ‘I don’t give a f*** who you are. Get out’
Eden Villalovas
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Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) is under fire for yelling and cursing at Senate pages while giving an evening tour of the Capitol on Thursday.
The freshman GOP representative, who is a retired Navy SEAL, called the pages “lazy s***s” and told them to “get the f*** up” off the Capitol Rotunda, where they were lying down and taking photos, according to a transcript written by a Senate page after the incident occurred and obtained by the Hill after Punchbowl News first reported the interaction.
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Senate pages are typically high school-aged and assist in the chamber by delivering correspondence and legislative materials, among other tasks.
“Who the f*** are you?” Van Orden asked the pages. “I don’t give a f*** who you are. Get out,” he said in response to one page clarifying their role.
“You jackasses, get out,” he added.
Van Orden did not deny the events to the Washington Examiner on Thursday, noting he took issue with the pages treating the Capitol “like a frat house common room.”
“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 in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.
Van Orden emphasized that the Capitol Rotunda was used as a hospital for wounded troops during the Civil War, indicating the actions of the pages were disrespectful.
The incident happened after midnight when Senate pages were working late as members were working on markups for the National Defense Authorization Act with the goal of wrapping things up before the August recess.
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Van Orden commented on the transcript of the interaction written up by a page and released to the media.
“Threatening a congressman with bad press to excuse poor behavior is a reminder of everything that’s wrong with Washington,” Van Orden said. “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.”