Memes take a dark turn after Trump’s election

I hate to say it, but when I saw that greased hippo go for the Trump cakeI knew it was over. Months ago I predicted Moo Deng’s demise, and I’m happy to say that my hypothesis was largely correct: many at X are now accuse her for the outcome of the US presidential election.

I remember the November 2016 election, mostly because I was a freshman in high school, but also because Macklemore released his cheugy trap ballad “Wednesday Morning” in response to Trump’s first election, and I liked it (because I was 14, please leave me alone). Eight years later, on another Wednesday morning, I was — as Macklemore writes in his song — “looking for change on the couch.” But on this Wednesday morning I was also looking for memes. However, the day after the election, social media was so saturated with fear that I couldn’t go through my feeds without going crazy.

As we settle into what we’re all nesting into, memes that have floated to the top of the downright terrifying world of lead a $1 billion dollar campaign and become a subtle form of resistance.

I start the saga before Election Day, when a friend of a friend shared a personalized Brat meme sent by the Kamala campaign to remind her to vote. What started as a strange fanbase meme of Charlie XCX was quickly incorporated into the campaign strategy when the singer endorsed Harris, months before Bad Bunny and Beyoncé endorsed the Democrat. Harris was quick to capitalize on the meme’s popularity, even long afterward officially dead.

None of these memes are laugh-so-hard-you-pee-yourself, but maybe that era of meme-making died long ago with Vine. This meme cycle, like its associated news cycle, is darker and more radical. Unlike our more vibrant collective Moo Deng psychosis, they find a way to discuss potentially devastating consequences for immigrants and LGBTQ+ people in a demonstrably unhinged way.

Pre-election memes embody a cult fandom for the election as a spectator event, much like tuning into a show like The bachelor. A highlight from my selection of memes is a fake text exchange from MSNBC journalist Steve Kornacki (who, by the way, appeared in a live “Kornacki Cam” on YouTube during the election, from a camera angle showing only his backside).

These messages quickly devolve into the human mind’s grimmest imaginings of religion, immigration and homosexuality, and into the recirculation of John Lennon’s famous rendition of ‘Imagine’ released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ll share my personal favorites below, for my sanity (and yours).