Did Someone Just Fart On Live TV? You Be The Judge Of MSNBC’s ‘Fartgate’

There was a distinct fart-like sound as Rep. Eric Swalwell spoke with Chris Matthews.

Twitter users are airing out their flatulation speculation after something that sounded a lot like a fart rocked the MSNBC airwaves on Monday night, causing #Fartgate to blast to the top of Twitter’s trending topics. 

The alleged TV toot struck as Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) spoke with host Chris Matthews.

Swalwell paused slightly at the precise moment of the sound:  

But the congressman denied that he supplied it. Swalwell told Buzzfeed that not only was it not him, but he didn’t even hear it. 

The show later blamed a coffee mug “scraping across the desk,” and tried to turn it into a sales pitch for the mug. Swalwell declared himself vindicated in Trumpian fashion: 

Many aired their grievances with the mug story:

CNN’s S.E. Cupp blamed Matthews ― and jokingly offered an in-depth analysis of the fart footage as if it were the Zapruder film: 

Other Twitter users shared their own #Fartgate theories as they made both Swalwell and Matthews the butt of their jokes: