Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin is defending himself against backlash after reportedly directing a foul-mouthed tirade towards a group of teens at the U.S. Capitol.
Van Orden reportedly screamed at a group of Senate pages discovering them resting and snapping photos in the Capitol Rotunda late on Thursday night. Pages are high school juniors, generally 16 or 17 years old, who are tasked with errands like delivering legislation and correspondences within the Capitol complex and preparing the Senate chambers for sessions.
The "midnight rant" from the Republican congressman was first reported by Punchbowl News. According to a transcript purportedly written by one of the pages minutes after the incident and obtained by The Hill, Van Orden referred to the teens as "jackasses" and accused them of "defiling" the area. Senators who witnessed the incident were reportedly outraged.
"Wake the f*** up you little s****," Van Orden said, according to The Hill's transcript. "What the f*** are you all doing? Get the f*** out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s***]."
"Who the f*** are you?" he continued, prompting one of the teens to inform him that they were Senate pages. "I don't give a f*** who you are, get out... You jackasses, get out."
Van Orden defended his actions in a statement released on Thursday, arguing that he was protecting the Capitol Rotunda as a "symbol of sacrifice" since it served as a field hospital during the Civil War.
"The Capitol Rotunda served as a field hospital where countless Union soldiers died fighting to free men in the Civil War," Van Orden said. "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."
The congressman went on to say that he had been threatened with "bad press" over the incident but that he was willing to pay "the price" in the name of "what's right."
"Threatening a congressman with bad press to excuse poor behavior is a reminder of everything that's wrong with Washington," he 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."
In comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Van Orden further blasted the teens while remarking that it would be "terribly disrespectful to lay on the grave of a soldier that died fighting for freedom."
No soldiers are actually buried at the Capitol, while it is reportedly not uncommon for pages to rest near the Capitol Rotunda when the Senate is in session late, as was the case on Wednesday.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Van Orden's office via email on Thursday.
Van Orden, who was elected to his first House term last year, made headlines in 2021 for allegedly shouting at and threatening a teenage library page in Wisconsin due to his disapproval of an LGBTQ+ Pride display.
Kerrigan Trautsch, who was 17 at the time, told The La Crosse Tribune that Van Orden was "was full on shouting" and "kept aggressively shoving the books around" during the incident.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
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