Sep.18
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Debate Memes, Redux

We also promised another set of debate memes (because there are so many to choose from). Here they are:

D'oh! Again: The Simpsons figures prominently in the debate memery. First, because there is so much material to work with. Second, because the show is, of course, set in Springfield.

Kamala Harris at one podium, Grampa Simpson shaking his fist at the other.

We Warned Them: The Swifties are roused to anger by Trump's attacks on their hero, and Swifties for Kamala has already raised just shy of $200,000 for the campaign. On top of that, friendship bracelets (which are Swift's calling card) with Harris-related messages are now ubiquitous on the Internet:

A collection of friendship bracelets that say things like 'Ms. President,' 'Swifties Love Kamala' and 'Momala'

Time and Again: This one is kind of interesting. This was the Time Magazine cover released a few days after the debate, and it was circulated widely by pro-Harris folks. Then, the incident at Trump International Golf Club happened, and many pro-Trump folks seized upon the cover as proof of a conspiracy, suggesting that the would-be assassin was part of some sort of inside job. Exactly why the conspirators would announce their intentions several days prior to the incident, and how and why they would arrange to use the cover of Time to do so, is not clear.

It has a drawing of Trump in a golf cart, trapped in a sand trap, and says 'In Trouble.'

Equal Time: There are also plenty of pro-Trump memes out there. We don't think they are especially witty, but here's an example.

It's a cartoon of David Muir choosing between a button that says 'Fact check Trump' and one that says 'Softball question to Kamabla'

Baby Talk: When you have a reputation for certain kinds of behavior, that's going to find its way into the memes.

It says 'GETTING SPANKED BYA WOMAN IN PRIVATE' and shows a picture of Trump smiling, and then 'GETTING SPANKED BY A WOMAN IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD' and shows a drawing of Trump as a crying baby

Transgender Aliens: E.T. in drag was pretty good; this joke along the same lines has been shared hundreds of thousands of times.

The aliens after their transgender operations

A mystery solved: Now we know who's writing Trump's material for him—Cards Against Humanity. We assume that when they call in sick, Mad Libs fills in.

A card that says They're doing [BLANK] on [BLANK] who are [BLANK], and then has three 'cards' that are being played: 'transgender operations,' 'illegal aliens,' and 'in prison'

An Oldie But a Goodie: Someone revived this bit from an eX-Twitter account that was very popular while Trump was president.

Trump holds up a folder, which was clearly a signed bill, and someone has photoshopped in 'No one ate your cats when I was president'

Staff Dachshund Otto Understands TV, Too: We don't love to link to eX-Twitter, but it's the only way to share this meme, featuring a dog who was clearly distraught over the news out of Springfield.

THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS pic.twitter.com/lQqMW5l8pT

— Tarquin (@Tarquin_Helmet) September 11, 2024


Song and Dance: Think carefully about whether you want to view this video; the song has a definite ear-worm quality to it.

"The streaming revenue from this song will be going to the Clark County SPCA and will help stray animals in Springfield Ohio find a loving home."

Might as well channel all this craziness into a good cause. pic.twitter.com/y88U79rvb4

— i/o (@eyeslasho) September 13, 2024

Anytime we do this, we get a few e-mails telling us that we should skip the meme rundowns because they are stupid.

The fact is, this is how some voters—especially younger voters—communicate. If you ignore this part of the Internet, you're not getting the full picture. On top of that, you'll have a harder time assessing the price that politicians might be paying for the choices they make.

In this case, the politicians in question are Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, and the choice they've made is to lean into the cats and dogs bit. Trump, for his part, has extended it to a new town (Charleroi, PA, which is also home to many thousands of legal Haitian immigrants), while Vance has openly admitted that he knows it's a falsehood, but says it's worth it, because it keeps the focus on immigration and not on abortion.

But is it worth it? As you can see above, an enormous percentage of the memes are shredding Trump and Vance for this. The themes are: (1) Trump and Vance are absurd, and (2) Trump and Vance are mean-spirited bastards who are willing to scapegoat an immigrant community in order to score political points. We tend to doubt this is helping them, even if it is temporarily keeping people from talking about abortion. We're not the only ones who think this way; Republican House members in swing districts are really hoping that Trump and Vance drop it, because those members are being tarred by association.

So again, we think that getting the full story means you gotta take a look at the memes, sometimes. (Z)


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