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Here is Bernie Sanders, wrapped up like a homeless senior in a cheap blue mask and mittens at Bidens inauguration in 2021, unaware he is about to become one of the most viral memes that year.

Memes matter in politics. And theyre going to matter a whole lot more more as time goes on. Lets look at why, and how, political memes have become so central to our national conversation and how you can join the political meme revolution.

Political memes are nothing new. The irresistible urge to mock the powerful with jokey pictures goes back hundreds of years. James Gillray was a London caricaturist of the 18th century, whose cartoons making fun of prominent figures of his time like Napoleon or Prime Minister William Pitt were widely printed, and hugely influential. If Gillray were alive today, hed be working in the medium of memes.

Memes, after all, won the 2016 Presidential election. At least in part. As hard as the Democratic establishment tried, Hillary never found a way to counter President Trumps uncanny talent for shitposting. His outrageous gift for trolling that consistently made the news, day and night, around the world, for literally years.

Our first meme president. Take a bow sir.

Source: Memix

Assisted by his loyal battalion of meme lords, Trump dominated the entirety of all political discussion, on every channel, during the long lead up to Election Day. Why? Because he realized that in the modern era, people dont have time to consume traditional political media.

With memes, you can grab peoples attention quickly. Much quicker than a newspaper article, or a two-hour cable news show anyway. And if your meme is hilarious people will definitely remember it. You might convince them of something they werent sure about before.

And theres a good chance theyll share it, creating more converts to your side of the argument. Win win, buddy.

Source: Memix

You already know a bunch of famous political memes. That one of Bill Clinton, bursting in behind Barack Obama, clearly ready to take the credit for something he didnt actually do.

At the spicier end of the spectrum, Pepe the Frog served as an unofficial emblem of the online Trump campaign in 2016. His adorable froggy features were everywhere that strange autumn.

Source: Memix

Controversial? Without a doubt. Effective? You bet.

The whole nature of worldwide political discourse has been upended since the dawn of the meme age. In the UK, the Brexit vote was unequivocally won by the side with the best memes.

As with Trump, the side with the best shitposting game, the strongest memes and sharpest sense of humor carried the day. The left as so often couldnt meme. And as a result, they lost the ability to control the narrative, and therefore the vote.

Source: Memix

Even if by now its well understood that memeing is the only way to fight a successful political campaign in the 21st century, theres still folks out there who get it wrong. Like, really wrong.

Billionaire New York Democrat Michael Bloomberg wanted to become President in 2020. A smart businessman, whatever else you might think of him, he sunk a vast chunk of his fortune into an elaborately choreographed meme campaign.

Its believed he was spending over a million bucks a day on social media ads running memes, and paying even entry-level influencers $150 to post nice things about him and share Bloomberg-friendly memes.

Did it work? No, it did not work.

Source: Memix

Money cant buy the ability to meme. Memeing only works when it comes from a real place. Its patriotic, in a really profound way. Meme culture is literally freedom. A culture that is authentically by the people, for the people.

So theres no reason why you shouldnt try and make memes. To get your side of the debate across. To show your allegiance, and stick it to the other side. Memix is a great tool for putting dope political humor on GIFs.

You can win the argument, troll your rivals, and get a laugh from your buddies all at the same time.

Back in olde worlde London, James Gillray made this literal anti-vaxx meme in 1802. As it happens, he was pro-vaccination. But he was also a meme lord for the ages. Influencing the political culture of his time through the medium of humor.

And you can too, adding a bit of light and laughter to the Washington discourse with your own dank gif from the good folks at Memix.

Source: Memix

The rest is here:
The Power of Laughter: Why Memes Matter in Politics - Daily Caller

As Twitchy reported earlier, Rep. Adam Kinzinger suggested that Twitter owner Elon Musk was anti-Semitic after he asked whos pulling Alexander Vindmans strings after a whole bunch of ostensibly unrelated Twitter accounts just so happened to tweet the exact same message as Vindman: Kinda weird that @elonmusk gets to decide how like a half-billion people communicate. Way too much power for one erratic individual to wield, dont you think? read the tweets. When Musk suggested that bots were amplifying Vindmans message, Kinzinger took it as anti-Semitism.

Weve no doubt Kinzinger has developed a long reach in his time on the January 6 select committee, but he had even more proof: Musk had once retweeted a Pepe the Frog meme.

Pepe the Frog does indeed appear on the Anti-Defamation Leagues list of hate symbols:

Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character that has become a popular Internet meme (often referred to as the sad frog meme by people unfamiliar with the name of the character). The character first appeared in 2005 in the on-line cartoon Boys Club. In that appearance, the character also first used its catchphrase, feels good, man.

The Pepe the Frog character did not originally have racist or anti-Semitic connotations. Internet users appropriated the character and turned him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things. Many variations of the meme became rather esoteric, resulting in the phenomenon of so-called rare Pepes.

The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted.

However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist.

Were horrified that Musk would retweet such a hate symbol, but in the spirit of light being the best disinfectant, here are some other hateful people.

Pepes not in it, but we like this one:

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger beset by Pepe the Frog memes after suggesting Elon ...

Wow, Adam Kinzinger must really like making a fool of himself. Or at least thats what it looks like with the last few days (weeks, months) of him tweeting really stupid stuff that ultimately gets him dragged for our amusement.

We should probably send this guy a thank you card and some cookies for all of the Twitchy fodder.

Ok, so as our readers know, Adam tried really hard to make Elon Musk out to be anti-Semitic for sharing a meme of Pepe the Frog. He really thought this was a dunk:

Google Pepe the Frog. Youll see that this is an alt right meme since 2016, with links to anti semetism and authoritarianism.

Cool Elon. https://t.co/TP2F4nEvbI

Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) November 28, 2022

Except thats not true, Adam.

Even the ADL says so.

Womp-womp.

This is what Twitter put on Adams tweet:

*snort*

What a maroon.

via GIPHY

You should definitely put this tweet on your MSNBC job application.

Meara (@MillennialOther) November 28, 2022

Definitely.

They live for this sort of embarrassment at ones own expense.

And OMG you guys, the number of Pepe memes on his tweet HA HA HA HA.

pic.twitter.com/rbxqVmKer2

Grumpy (@SweatimusPrime) November 29, 2022

pic.twitter.com/P2sYSRdpLu

PCEM Smittie GE.D (@smittie61984) November 29, 2022

pic.twitter.com/rtxlA6I4hd

The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) November 28, 2022

BAHAHAHA.

pic.twitter.com/hxOJ4ZcPii

Mrs. Brassenstein (@MBrassenstein) November 28, 2022

Seriously. He could have saved himself a BUNCH of embarrassment if he had just bothered to Google this even a little. But we all know Adam was so determined to slam Elon Musk that he didnt care. That or hes just really that dense.

Hrm, he does tend to pander to the very people who have gerrymandered him out of a job so maybe we should just go with dense.

That works.

pic.twitter.com/TZhkLgEdVg

Dano Hana 8 (@DanooHana) November 29, 2022

Good times.

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Its SO ON: Elon Musk calls down the THUNDER on Apple for threatening to remove Twitter from App Store

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Originally posted here:
Even Twitter is pointing and laughing at Adam Kinzinger for scolding ...

Pepe the Frog has been with us since 2005 and has become quite popular as a meme and reactions in chat rooms. We have collected 80 of the best gifs of this meme. Sad, crying or cheerful Pepe, anger, dancing frog and much more. Download for free and use as you please.

Classic crying frog

Pensive smile

Sad dance on transparent background

Pepe winks and offers a drink

Its too sad

Pepe cries with closed eyes and raises his hands up

Rage

When someone wrote that you werent a sweet bun

Pepes Endless Middle Finger Show

Pepe the Frog is hypnotized and spit rainbow-colored. Transparent background

Sad frog on a rainbow background

When you sit under a blanket in front of the computer during a snowfall outside the window

Sweats trying to make a decision

Stingy smile

Sad Pepe the Frog Begins to Cry

Sad Pepe dancing on a black background

Joy gives way to sadness

Pepe Crying Liquid Animation

Rainbow Pepe

Playful mood

Smooth dance animation, many frames per second. Transparent background

Sad dance of love

Pepe in a black robber mask shoots with two pistols

Three-dimensional face of a frog on a transparent background

Spinning frog coin

Suicidal Pepe

Joy in front of TV

Pepe fires a Kalashnikov assault rifle

Frog face on black background

Pepe is sadly holding a cigarette

Multiple rage and surprise

Funny dance on transparent background

Funny embarrassment

Pepe hits you

Dance with a dazzling smile on a blue background

Pepe happy with a mug of tea

Sad Pepe the Frog Wears the Mask of Happiness

Nods

Rotates palms left and right

Head spins clockwise

Pepe the Frog Performs the Party Parrot Dance

Pepe is composed of numbers and letters, like in the Matrix

Smiling frog in the Jacuzzi

Dance in sunglasses

Appears from different directions

Pepe the Frog Prays

Dubbing in rainbow suit

The frog sits in a black chair under a red blanket and moves its legs

Shows fists

The butterfly flies to sad Pepe and makes him more fun

Sad Pepe in a brilliant green performance

Pepe is looking for the ghost that can be seen outside the window

Hurrah!

Pepe in a formal suit. He saw something incredible

Pepe listens to music

Pensive smile on the background of a circular rainbow

We run

Red eyes from social networks

Dance in simple clothes

Martial arts master

Applause

When you saw something magnificent

Dancing Plant with Pepes Face

Pepe with a glass of wine

Doubts, but claps his hands

Dubbing in formal suit

Dubbing jersey 10

Pixel Pepe Crying

Im leaving

Im going to cry

Dubbing at a fast pace

Joy with open eyes

The ghost of the frog Pepe

Party Parrot style dance

Sweaty frog points to the hole

Pepe the child

Pepe washes his hands and wears a medical mask

Pepe the frogs head becomes cheerful, but quickly becomes sad

Antichrist go away

Pepe shoots you with a pistol

ACEGIF.com

Go here to see the original:
Pepe The Frog GIFs | 80 Animated Images of This Meme - ACEGIF.com

The wider world doesn't care about OPEC or Deutsche Bank right now they want to know why a global internet meme called Pepe the Frog has been put on a list of hate symbols.

Pepe the Frog is, as the name suggests, an online cartoon frog character that has become hugely popular around the world since its creation by cartoonist Matt Furie in 2005. But it has now fallen fowl of an anti-discrimination watchdog and added to a database of "hate symbols."

The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said on Wednesday that Pepe the Frog was being "used by haters on social media to suggest racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted notions, as a hate symbol" and, as a result, it had taken the decision to add the image to its online database of hate symbols.

An image of Pepe the Frog

Wikimedia Commons

This means that Pepe the Frog has now joined an ignominious rank of symbols including the well-known Swatiska and blood drop cross used by the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan respectively, that the ADL has on its "Hate on Display" database.

The story has captured the attention of the world and was one of the top five trending stories on search engine Google on Thursday morning.

The ADL noted that cartoonist Furie created the frog cartoon and gave him the catchphrase "feels good, man" but that the image and phrase had been appropriated by social media users, "turning him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things."

While the ADL noted that the majority of uses of Pepe the Frog "have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted," it had also taken on a more sinister side among some social media communities.

Furie has already defended his cartoon, telling the Atlantic publication in September that his feelings were "pretty neutral"

"I think it's just a reflection of the world at large .. I just think that people reinvent him in all these different ways, it's kind of a blank slate. It's just out of my control, what people are doing with it, and my thoughts on it, are more of amusement," he said.

The ADL added that the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seemed to be increasing, but added that it was important to examine use of the meme only in context.

"The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes," it said.

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Originally posted here:
Who is Pepe the Frog and why has he become a hate symbol? - CNBC