Bad language: profane Trump brings presidential swearing out into open

President has let rip with swearwords in recent months, redefining norms about acceptable language in public office

With a lifetime of political memories stretching back to John F Kennedy’s assassination and the Black civil rights struggles of the 1960s, Cheryl Johnson had one complaint above all else about today’s politicians: the swearing.

“All this cursing in politics, we never heard that before,” said Johnson, a retired social worker living in the Pittsburgh area. “Words are very powerful, and the past 45 presidents of this country, have not used such vile language.

“Is that how teachers, corporate leaders, nurses, doctor, dentist speak in their work environment? It’s not OK. It’s a decline in respect and honor, period.”

Over the past decade, Donald Trump has been at the vanguard of redefining public standards of what constitutes acceptable language.