We’ve all had awkward Zoom meetings.
With so much of regular life moved online, everyone has had to adapt to Zoom meetings with people they’ve never met before, and for some professions – televised hearings.
For politicians around the world, the move to Zoom has proved to be rife with difficulties. Senator Tom Carper definitely felt that way on Friday, after dialling into a Zoom hearing with the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
When Tom Carper was called on for his turn to question the Postmaster General, it seemed like there was some sort of lag – so you couldn’t hear what Carper was saying.
Ron Johnson, a Senator from Wisconsin, who was leading the hearing, suggested that the hearing move past Carper and come back to him later.
But Carper appeared not to notice when his sound came back – as evidenced by the string of F-bombs that he dropped, on mic, in front of many people. Including journalists and anyone else watching along at home.
Uh. We just had a hot mic moment with Sen. Carper. https://t.co/5bTAwZH8vL— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1598018061
But Carper pressed on with his questions after he realised people could hear him, potentially without realising that everyone heard him swearing profusely seconds before.
In all fairness to Senator Carper, I too have been repeatedly yelling “fuck” for the past four years.— Santiago Mayer (@Santiago Mayer) 1598018851
Senator Carper shouting "fuck fuck FUCK" during the DeJoy postal service testimony was *chef's kiss*— a schooling in contempt (@a schooling in contempt) 1598017916
Senator Carper had some zoom issues, and his feed went live just as he says "fuck! fuck! fuck!" Which, honestly, mood.— Grace Segers (@Grace Segers) 1598018019
The hearing was about the US Postal Service. During the 2020 election period, there will probably be more mail-in ballots than normal, because of the pandemic, but ongoing cuts to the Postal Service meant that there have already been significant delays and other issues with sorting mail.