There will be few bigger moments on social media than Trump’s inauguration. The eyes of the world were on the event, and, for the internet, this meant one thing and one thing only: a deluge of memes.
The online world erupted into action during Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States—and, unsurprisingly, this led to an array of viral posts.
The proliferation of memes were more than just an opportunity for a joke though, they provided a moment of non-partisan connection, where people from both sides could come together and forget about their differences for a moment.
Before we get there though, a quick note. This piece isn’t about the political elements of Trump’s inauguration, instead its focus is on the role memes play in these sort of events.
Trump’s Inauguration: What Happened? And How Did The Internet React?
On Monday, Jan. 20, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the U.S. in front of an audience of politicians, tech CEOs and public figures. Some of these included Elon Musk, George W. Bush, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai.
The event was full of pomp and circumstance, including musical performances and several balls after Donald Trump was formally sworn in.
It’s this series of events that formed the basis for many of the memes birthed around the Trump inauguration. While there are thousands upon thousands of posts circulating about the event, the goal here is to share some of the most viewed and popular formats.
One such example revolved around Melania Trump’s outfit:
While a series of memes were created around George W. Bush’s reactions during a segment of Trump’s inauguration:
Another popular piece of fodder for people online were posts around what some are calling Elon Musk’s “Roman salute.” This particular example combines video game footage with a reference to the popular TV show, The Boys:
Barron Trump also received a fair share of attention online. This post, for example, manipulates his image to make him seem monstrously tall:
The posts above have been viewed tens of millions of times alone, and they’re only a fraction of what’s out there.
Of course, there’s also a lot of political debate occurring, but it’s the success of the memes from Trump’s inauguration that are the most interesting to analyze.
The Trump Inauguration: What The Deluge Of Memes Mean
A study by the Pew Research Center shows that, on average, Democrats and Republicans are more split on key issues than at any time in the past 50 years. In other words, people in the U.S. are politically polarized.
This means that there are fewer areas individuals on opposite sides of the political spectrum can connect with. It’s hard to associate with someone if neither of you have any common ground, after all.
But memes can assist this.
One of the interesting elements of internet humor is that its tough, or borderline impossible, to work out the political orientation of many posts. There’s simply too much ambiguity and irony at work in the format.
Take this post for example:
There are enough contradictory elements in the meme that it’s totally unclear what its political allegiance is—you can simply decide yourself if it has any sort of leaning.
This makes memes in this vein often apolitical. Yes, they include political elements, but the jokes and comments are so layered that a simple explanation is often not possible. This works in their favor as a tool of connection.
Research backs this up too. Memes have been shown to create a sense of community in online settings. The fact they can reach across political divides mean there’s correspondence between sides, even in something as potentially fracturing as the Trump inauguration.
That, in many ways, is one of the most useful aspects of the internet. Yes, it can drive people apart, but it can also function as a bridge, something that can bring people with disparate views together over something as simple as a silly joke.
For many, Trump’s inauguration, whether positively or negatively, was an extreme moment. So let’s be thankful that, in times like these, we have memes that can unite people on all sides of the divide.
