Thats the commentator off screen agreeing with him. Sort of a hmm, or mmm.
-ACP

he kind of paused to squeeze it out. i like how he kept his composure. quite professional. more people should fart on television.

Whatever. That was air escaping from a butt pressed against a cushy, ergonomic chair if I’ve ever heard it!

@acp:

sorry tim russert (or tim russert’s publicist or whoever you are), but that was a fart.

i just played that clip four times…i didnt hear it!

Sounds to me like the other guy was just doing an “uh hmmm” but really quickly.

hee hee! That made my day.

I am also a 5 year old. I’m almost 30 and I still giggle when someone farts. Even then other day when someone farted at a funeral I was at. I can’t help it. It’s just a universally funny noise.

didn’t hear it…very depressed because of this…vow not to fart at all today

It was the short toot kind, not long rumbling bubbly kind that is truly hilarious.

And thank god old Russ, didn’t reflexively put his hand to his but cheeks then bring it back up for a whiff.

Yup, just listen for this sentence:

“No one has appeared on that program… (toot!)… from 1962 to 1948.”

No flinching, though. That Russert, he’s all-pro.

not a fart….off screen person hmmm’ing

Did you notice that Russert tries to hide his grin after he lets out the C# note from the butt trumpet?

That’s what made me laugh.

And to ride the note that chris said, “…more people should fart on television.”

I agree.

And here’s a short list of people I’d like to see fart on TV:

Ashleigh Banfield
Oprah
Shia The Motherfucking LaBeouf
Katie Couric
Shea Hess
Tina Fey
Tracy Morgan
Dwight Schrute
Hillary Clinton

There’s no rhyme or reason behind my list….but I’d like to see who everyone else would like see fart on TV…..

No way, that was a total one gun salute into the cushiony, muffling fibers of his chair. Funnier than ketchup bottles.

Barbara Walters

how can you mistake a fart for someone saying “hmm”? the two sound nothing alike. besides. the fart was easily picked up by his mic. if it was an offscreen person saying something, it either a) wouldn’t be picked up at all by his mic, or b) would sound quiet and distant.

Total Butt Trumpet.I love how his expression never ever changed. Awesome!

jesus christ. think about it, guys - the only way you’d be able to hear a fart that clearly is if it was mic’d. the amount of bass present in the sound is a dead giveaway. if it was a fart, it would be more distant and quiet (like ambient room noise), regardless of how powerful it was. so, unless they have a condenser mic sitting right next to his ass, that was something else.

he completely paused after he did it and then tried not to smile about it!

Whoever smelt it, dealt it. We all know this truism. So the question is: Who acknowledged smelling it first?

I posit Andrea Mitchell.

What I think is funny is that for about 10 seconds before the air biscuit was floated, he’s thinking, “Dammit! I gotta fart. Can I sneak this one out?”

And then he began clenching his anus…and adjusting his cheeks…

That sounds like an off-screen interviewer ‘mmmm’ to me — quite clearly. I have a feeling if a long clip were shown, you’d hear that the other guy sounds like that ‘fart.’
This was just a low & dirty (yet effective) way of advertising to get people to come to this site.
Well done.

Definitely an off-screen “hmmmm”

Pupster you made me Laugh out Loud for real….thanks =D

I must be getting old. I can’t hear anything. It’s like that damn mosquito ring tone that all the kids are using these days. I’ve played this thing 10 times and I still can’t hear anything. This damn video is turning into my personal Zapruder film.

Russert does seem like the kind of guy who would smile while farting on the air though.

I LOVE THIS DISCUSSION! i’ve been cracking up so hard that it actually made ME fart and laugh even harder. i love you guys.

I did not no gaseous discharge! You should get hearing aids. You just want to mock our ever vigilant Main Stream Media and the tremendous efforts they employ to keep America informed. I have to go snack on some Cheez Doodles and Dr. Pepper.

I did not hear no gaseous discharge! You should get hearing aids. You just want to mock our ever vigilant Main Stream Media and the tremendous efforts they employ to keep America informed. I have to go snack on some Cheez Doodles and Dr. Pepper.

I did not hear no gaseous discharge! You should get hearing aids. You just want to mock our ever vigilant Main Stream Media and the tremendous efforts they employ to keep America informed. I have to go snack on some Cheez Doodles and Dr. Pepper.

OK, is it me, or does it sound like there are horses hooves nearby at the beginning of the clip? Maybe a horse farted….I can’t believe no one else has brought this up.

yep that was definitely a barking spider. he probably left behind a skidmark in that fart soaked chair of his. mmm hmm

I’m callin it a fart. He farts, then I hear a giggle, then he says “from 1962 to 1948″. Fart, he heard it and now hates the internet.

It was an mmmhmm by Keith Olbermann… That’s a pitiful attempt at a bad fart joke!

Have you guys ever heard a fart before? that was obviously somebody talking, jesus thanks for wasting 30 seconds of my life.

He farted. Look at the smirk on his face at the end of the video.

That was definitely a fart. He gets confused and makes no sense after it

…but he never makes sense! lol

That was a fart, and I confirmed iy by having my wife listen to the clip. She even noticed his little grin right after he did it.

What’s the big deal? The show must go on, whatever. He is a pro in every sense of the word. Utterly unflappable. Bravo Tim.

I served with fart. I knew fart; Fart was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no fart.

Definitely a fart. The pause in speaking clenched the deal, so to speak. Amazing professionalism–I would have had to make a concentration-like facial expression during the push just to prevent it from having friends.

Did I do thaaaaaat?

Who says date ranges from high (1962) to low (1948)? You’d say from 1948 to 1962. His mind went elsewhere, so it was clearly a fart. But it seemed to loud to be his. It was someone off camera messin’ with him.

Maybe he ate too many beans? What’s he going to do next belch on the air? Pig.

1969 to 1948? That fart really through him for a loop! he he!

Get a life- farted or not.

LOL! I feel sorry for the next person who has to sit in that smelly farty chair.

He could have at least excused himself. he he

Wouldn’t a loud stomach rumbling also sound similar?

no its Olbermann saying mmmm

I’m an expert on flatulence and I can certify that was indeed a real fart. The fart was a true chair ripper. All in all not a bad fart but it’s hard to fairly judge a fart without smelling it. It probably stunk at least a little bit. I’d give Tim’s fart a 6 on a scale of 0 to 10 for sound quality. I judge farts on their sound quality, smell, and hang time (i.e how long does the fart linger).

Wow, there are some low class people around here. You boobs only recognize the sound of your farts through $20 Old Navy denim. Of course, it’s gonna come out a little loud and flat.

Tim Russert, if you will observe the video, is wearing a custom Canali suit. The is fine weave lightweight Italian wool, people. You fart through that and it’s gonna come out with less vibrato and an octave higher. And it gives farts an expensive designer scent.

The rich really are different from us.

He ripped one. Doesn’t matter if it was Old Navy jeans or a Canali suit. People who brag about being rich are not pupster. LMAO!

Then is it true that rich people fart too?

NOW I’VE HEARD EVERYTHING!!

Well, I’d say this is another sad example of the news media contributing to global warming.

Russert cut one, there can be no doubt (big exasperated sigh).

You people CLEARLY never watch Countdown. The clip is from Tuesday’s election coverage of the W.Va. and Ore. primaries which was hosted by Olberman and Mathews, and the supposed fart is Keith’s voice responding to what Russert is saying with “Hmms.” And if Keith doesn’t address this on Countdown tonight, I’ll be shocked! If this was really on Race ‘08 Wednesday, it was a clip from Tuesday’s election special which preempted Race ‘08, as it began at 6.

Commenters Publius McPeters and Joe Corrao are correct.

Crimeny.

How do we know that the farting sound didn’t come from the anchor to whom Russert is speaking? Very likely that anchor’s mic is on too. Also, notice typing sound in background — could be a wayward mic is hot and the techs aren’t aware of it. That sound could have come from anywhere.

Curious noise, but not enough to conclude that it’s emanating from Mr. Russert.

gene,

this was so funny that I laughed and laughed and laughed at the very clever responses!

gosh, it’s amazing how something like this can make you laugh like a 9 year old–56 years later.

You, know this is sounding alot like the comments from ufo videos…real or not? lmao…it is what it is, WHATEVER it is. it can be any one of those things and life wont change a bit….in my opinion, doesn’t sound like any kind of voice…that leaves either a very short trumpet butt blurp or a very short chair scoot blurp…either can sound very much the same…I’ve done both…farting was assumed in both cases lol
whatever it was, same result. lmao

God bless you, Tim!
Anyone can sneeze.

God bless you, Tim!
Anyone can sneeze.

That is definitely a fart. The sound a fart makes off of a cushioned chair is unique. Plus you can tell he kind of laughs a little bit after it happens.

It sounds more like a quiet “mmm-hmm” acknowledgement or something.

Yup that was a fart alright. You would be amazed at how much sound those mics can pick up nowadays. I hope he didn’t soil his panites.

beans beans good for your heart……………………

Totally sounds fartish… though I wonder about the validity of it being HIS fart… I mean it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from the same mic area as his voice. It’s more like his co-commentator farted while Timmy was talking so that he’d get blamed.

Oh… and does anyone else think that Tim Russert looks a lot like Stephen Root?

If you look at his right (screen left) lapel you can see his lavalier. These are small directional microphones designed to pick up the speaker’s voice and nothing more. If those things could pick up farts, we’d be hearing Pat Buchanan’s tooting on a daily basis.

Verdict: Not Guilty

Unless his ass was miked, that was someone else

Finally, he tells the truth of what he thinks of the American people…

(So, BobbyG…are you suggesting someone ELSES ass was miked?)

OMG, that was such a WET fart, too! My mom Janet Buttimer LOVES to fart like that in public and then point at me and tell people I did it.

to all you folks who insist that was a person off-camera “hmmm”-ing, I’d like to tell you that people don’t do that in a studio when the camera is rolling & they’re recording sound. Everyone in the room who is not on camera stays as quiet as humanly possible, they tip-toe & communicate with gestures & if they absolutely have to talk or sneeze or fart, they quickly (and silently!) move as far from the stage as possible.

There’s no way that noise came from anyone but Russert.

So riddle me this, wise guys. Whether it was a fart or an mmm-hmmm, isn’t it only about the millionth time that one asshole agreed with another on TV?

That nigga dead!

Ok - that was definately a fart…you could see it in his eyes -he was trying not to laugh…but alas…we will never know for sure… so sad. I like Russert.