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---
title: Florida Congressman Joe Garcia Eats Earwax On CSPAN, Blames Hangnails
description: &quot;My mom always told me to keep my fingers out of my mouth, and now I know why&quot;
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article:published_time: 2014-05-14T14:50:49.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:40.014Z
og:title: Watch a Congressman Pick His Ear and Eat It On Live TV
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twitter:title: Watch a Congressman Pick His Ear and Eat It On Live TV
twitter:description: He later blamed it on &#x27;hangnails&#x27;
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# Congressman Eats His Earwax on Live TV, Then Blames Hangnails

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by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


May 14, 2014 2:50 PM UTC

by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


May 14, 2014 2:50 PM UTC

House Judiciary Committee meetings are already incredibly thrilling and action-packed, obviously, but last week, things got even _more_ interesting after Florida Congressman Joe Garcia picked his ear and ate it.

Of course, the whole thing was recorded live on C-SPAN. In the video above, you can clearly see the Democrat digging in his ear, inspecting his findings, placing them into his mouth, and then going back for seconds.

He got an earful (get it?) from lots of grossed-out people, so yesterday, he took to Twitter to respond:

> [](https://twitter.com/RepJoeGarcia/status/466340426757451776)

> [](https://twitter.com/RepJoeGarcia/status/466344673158905858)

Okay, okay, we _guess_ that’s a valid explanation, but he sounds so defensive. Something is just not quite right here. Either way, now he knows that what happens on C-SPAN apparently doesn’t just stay on C-SPAN.

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