Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) called his GOP rival a "lowlife scumbag" and a "gutter dweller" during a live on-air debate on Oct 18.

What did Ellison's rival, Chris Fields, do to cause such an outburst? He accused Ellison of enriching himself to the tune of $2 million via funds from pharmaceuticals and other companies. Fields pointed out that Ellison claims to be on the House Foreign Affairs Committee although Ellison's own house.gov webpage does not support Ellison's claim. (During the on-air debate, Ellison continued to claim he is on the committee.)

Fields also accused Ellison of paying a law firm $240,000 to find out details of Fields' divorce.  

Ellison first responded to Fields' accusation by calling the GOP candidate "stupid," but soon followed up with "scumbag," "lowlife scumbag," and "gutter dweller."

As anyone who has watched Ellison knows, the congressman is prone to tears and emotional outbursts. Fields brought all of this out as he countered Ellison's name-calling by citing Ellison's recent divorce and "accused Ellison of shorting his own ex-wife on child-support payments."

On Fields' substantive points, Ellison blamed congressional failures on the Tea Party, but he never denied enriching himself to the tune of $2 million from pharmaceuticals and other companies.