If you’ve ever had an English class, you’ve probably heard that we should avoid (or at least not overuse) the passive voice. Your teacher may have given you several reasons for this guidance, but one key one that teachers don’t always mention is that passive voice allows the speaker to avoid assigning responsibility.

Case in point: Iowa’s 4th Congressional District Rep. Randy Feenstra said (echoes of Trump’s remarks about the alt-right demonstrators in Charlottesville) that the rioters who invaded the Capitol were a “wonderful group of people who got carried away.” He makes claims about them, so he must know them. But by using the passive voice, Feenstra doesn’t indicate who carried them away. He doesn’t tell us who he believes is responsible for inciting them. Or did the rioters themselves choose to breach and ransack the Capitol? How wonderful are they if they are so easily “carried away” and have so little self-restraint? If they aren’t responsible, who is? By using the passive voice, Feenstra avoids exploring the important part of the story.

In an early public speech, Feenstra has shown us he is as racist as the man he replaced and that he is equally willing to excuse horrible behavior while using equivocal language that sounds disapproving only on the surface.

Sue Ravenscroft is a professor emeritus at Iowa State University.