WASHINGTON – Congressman Derrick Van Orden explained that he blew up at Senate pages after hours in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday night because they were cheapening what the Rotunda symbolizes by shooting selfies and group photos. The pages were treating the rotunda like “frat house common room,” Van Orden said. For the record Van Orden has never lived in a college dorm or frat house. His impression of college life seems drawn from the 1978 John Belushi movie “Animal House.” His explanation of events in a formal statement was that he was that the ran across the pages, 16 and 17 years old, and cussed them out in an episode that was roundly condemned the next day, even by fellow Republicans, as excessive and inappropriate.
Talk show circuit
Van Orden also made the rounds of Wisconsin conservative talk radio shows to explain himself. On WISN in Milwaukee he said: “I’m not going to apologize for making sure that anybody — I don’t care who you are and who you’re related to — defiles this House. It’s not going to happen on my watch, man.” On another talk show Van Orden \said he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda because it served as a field hospital during the Civil War and it’s where presidents have lain in state upon their deaths.” He said the pages were “goofing off.” The pages explained later that they were taking pictures of themselves with rotunda frescos as background. They wanted visual memories of their experiences as Senate pages.
Media as scapegoat
In one talk show interview Van Orden blamed the hullabaloo over his behavior on unfriendly news media. “Would this be an issue if those young people did not have political connections?” Van Orden said. “Why do you think this is an issue, pal?” To CNN he said: “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 another interview he said: Van Orden said. “Threatening a congressman with bad press to excuse poor behavior is a reminder of everything that’s wrong with Washington. 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.”
Earlier: Democrats question WI-3’s
Van Orden character
Earlier: House GOP chief rails against GOP Congressman
Earlier: Senator leader rebukes Van Orden behavior
Earlier: Van Orden attacks teen-age Capitol pages as jackasses
Van Orden. Not uncommon for VanOrden to draw on patriotic themes to express his values. His 2018 and 2020 campaigns for Congress emphasized his background as a Navy SEAL. Also pointed to his bit part in the 2012 action movie “Act of valor.”
His 2015 book. “Book of Man: A Navy SEAL’s Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood.” Loaded with stories of fist fighting, fishing, and driving fast cars. all interwoven with the principles of what he says used to be known as basic manhood but has now become a lost art.
Third Congressioa District. Borders Mississippi River on Wisconsin’s west shore.