As profanity from politicans becomes normalized, what's allowed in political ads?

As if the constant barrage of political ads wasn't enough, some WCCO viewers are particularly bothered by the language candidates are using. 

In Good Question, Jeff Wagner explains what's allowed on TV and why politics and profanity are becoming the norm.

Our Good Question email inbox is filled right now with several people complaining about hearing swear words in political ads.

Jana from Blaine, Rojean from Lake Elmo and Dave from Independence are all asking the same thing: Is profanity allowed in political ads?

Good Question.

Let's start with the one that grabbed our viewers' attention. It's for U.S. Senate candidate Angie Craig. In the beginning of the ad, she tells a crowd of people, "Donald Trump's declared war on Minnesota. He's picked a fight with the wrong damn people."

Notably, the ad is paid for and sponsored by her. A voiceover of Craig states, "I'm Angie Craig and I approve this message."

That means it falls under a unique FCC ruling stating, "Broadcast stations are prohibited from censoring or rejecting political ads that are paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates."

That makes profanity fair game, including F-bombs, along with obscene or graphic video. 

"Stations are not responsible for the content in those situations," said media law professor Christopher Terry.

One example he mentioned involves Randall Terry (no relation), who has run as a third-party candidate for president several times. Randall Terry created political ads featuring images of aborted fetuses and people being lynched. Some news stations would run a warning for viewers before the ad would air, as well as explain the FCC law requiring its airing.

Broadcast stations do have some authority to censor political ads. If the ad comes from an outside group, like a Political Action Committee (PAC), then they are allowed to censor the material. Those are called issue ads.

The landscape slightly changes on cable television. While they are still bound by the FCC rule to run a candidate's ad without censorship, cable stations can run issue ads with profanity because "profanities are not bound on the cable system," Christopher Terry said.

The FCC's rules on political ads are irrelevant on the internet. Ads from candidates and outside groups can air there with profanity.

"There is no regulation of political ad content on a streaming service or on a web platform like YouTube or Netflix or something like that," said Christopher Terry.

U.S. Senate candidate Julianna Stratton ran an ad online in which people openly say "F*** Trump, vote Julianna" several times without censorship.

Christopher Terry said streaming services and social media platforms are allowed to censor the ads if they want, but it rarely happens.

"Those ads are paid-for content that generates a lot of revenue for those platforms. So, they're not likely to try to chase away potential people who are advertising," he said.

The FCC's rules aren't new, but the amount of swear words politicians openly use has increased from city hall to Washington, D.C.

In January, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, "To ICE, get the f*** out of Minneapolis," after federal agents killed U.S. citizens who were protesting immigration enforcement during Operation Metro Surge.

In June 2025, President Trump said, "They don't know what the f*** they're doing," to reporters while describing the conflict between Israel and Iran.

A recent study by Cardiff University found presidents, vice presidents and presidential hopefuls have used profanity 692 times on the record since 1919.

But 87% of those instances (605) have happened in the past decade, mainly between presidents Mr. Trump and Joe Biden. The study found Biden mainly used the word "damn" whereas Mr. Trump used a wider variety of swear words.

"Profanity has become a tool that politicians use quite deliberately," said Larry Jacobs, a political science professor. 

The tool helps them become more authentic, like an everyday person who swears when they talk.

"We are all sick and tired of politicians who are airbrushed. Every word they use has been carefully poll-tested. The use of profanity seems to cut through all that," said Jacobs.

Profanity also grabs attention since the shock value of an F-bomb can lead to more media coverage and clips circulating on social media. 

"And that, too, is building the attention of voters and folks who may have just checked out from politics," said Jacobs.

Despite profanity being normalized, not all voters want to hear it from politicians. A Pew Research poll from November 2025 found that nearly 80% of Americans feel politicians should avoid using heated or aggressive speech.