The DNC chair used a creative workaround to blast Trump's budget after being criticized for his profanity
Speaking to Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference in New York on Wednesday, Perez refrained from calling Trump's budget proposal a "s---ty budget," a favorite line of his recently. Instead, he employed some creative innuendo.
"They call it a skinny budget," Perez said. "I think of another word that begins with an 'S' that I won't use. It's a shoddy budget. It's a shoddy budget that is morally bankrupt."
Republicans and some more buttoned-up members of the media have criticized Perez over his description of Trump's executive orders relaxing labor rules as "bulls---," as well as his mocking description of Trump as a graduate of "Making S--- Up University."
"Fox and Friends" urged multiple guests this month to weigh in on the subject. CNN's John King dubbed the comments "unnecessary" and urged Perez to embrace "manners," while Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel demanded Perez apologize.
"I think Democrats should be denouncing his behavior," she told Fox News. "That should not be rhetoric that the Democratic party should be using."
Democrats haven't seemed to mind Perez's more profane rhetorical flourishes.
Despite a poor reception on some tour stops - he was booed during one of his own events with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier this month - his description of Trump's budget proposal has garnered laughter and standing ovations from Democratic crowds across the country.
Democrats like Perez have asserted that swearing is far from important in an era when the president has bragged about grabbing women by their private parts.
"I'm always amused that Republicans feign indignation when they hear the word 's---' or 'bulls---' out of Tom Perez, and they observe what Donald Trump has been saying for decades," Perez told The Washington Post's Dave Weigel. "Talk about ridiculous. I grew up in Buffalo. We're a blunt community. We tell it like it is. I think folks want to hear the straight skinny; they don't want double-talk."