Thursday on the RCP podcast, the gang discussed how sombreros and cat memes are taking center stage in the debate over government funding this week. “The memes are really not a side story anymore, they are how we, as a society, are debating,” Walworth said, mentioning a new article by Dan Baldino: “Memes Are the New Manifestos and Legacy Media Is Missing the Story “ “When this happened to JD Vance, he leaned into it. He posted it and laughed,” Tom Bevan said. “Meanwhile, what Hakeem Jeffries did, instead of letting it roll off his back, was say it’s racist. And they took the clip of him saying how awful and racist it was, and the Trump folks put a sombrero and a mustache on that.” “For a meme to be effective, political humor depends on pointing out the absurdity of the other person’s position or hypocrisy in an irreverent, lighthearted way. That’s what political humor is. The Democrats either pretend they don’t get the joke or are so wrapped around the axle on identity politics that they can’t allow themselves to engage,” Carl Cannon explained. “The Democratic Party’s lost its collective mind over the sombreros and fake mustaches and mariachi bands that Donald Trump and JD Vance are using against Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries,” Cannon said. “What’s happening now is that these two political parties are talking past each other. The Republicans get the moment. People are laughing at this. They don’t really think Hakeem Jeffries-it’s so random. He’s not even Hispanic. He should be able to roll his eyes at this. Instead, he’s come undone over it.” “These memes are making fun of the Democrats because the Democrats are being self-serious and supercilious and dishonest and posturing,” he said. “That’s what the memes are about.” “One reason they’re funny is that they get to the heart of what people don’t like about Democrats-even some Democrats: humorlessness, over-earnestness, taking a talking point because you think it works and then pretending like you believe it.” “I find them funny-purely subjective-but Hakeem Jeffries didn’t allow himself to get the joke. They don’t even approach it on that level-except Gavin Newsom. He’s not as funny as the people doing Trump’s social media, but at least he understands you can have fun,” Cannon said.
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