The first 2016 U.S. Presidential debate aired last night, with 17(!) GOP hopefuls divided into two separate debates and live broadcasts.
The impact of social media on the election has been fascinating to observe thus far, and its presence on the debate was no exception, with shared drinking games or bingo cards circulating earlier in the week, Fox News partnering with Facebook (its lowercase “f” logo visible from every camera angle during the debate) to field questions from Facebook members prior to the event, and real-time popularity meters on Twitter ranking mentions of each candidate throughout the evening.
And the memes. Seriously. Could there be any more Donald Trump memes? They have been around for weeks, and they still don’t get old.
If you had to watch the debates via DVR, you may have missed the closing remarks (the live telecast went overtime) and easily one of the best zingers of the evening.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: “It seems like this election has been a whole lot on a person who has been very high in the polls, who doesn’t have a clue about how to govern, a person who has been filled with scandals and could not lead.” The crowd assumed he was referring to Trump and started softly booing. Huckabee perfectly timed his punchline: “And of course, I’m talking about Hillary Clinton.” The crowd erupted in laughter, and Trump could be heard saying, in mic, “Thank you.”
Even (and especially?) in the only opportunity for canned, rehearsed remarks during the entire debate, there is something to be said for humor, appropriately timed and delivered, and its ability to connect with people. And Trump, even for how often his remarks register as offensive, can be a genuinely funny guy. Debate moderator Megyn Kelly admitted this afterwards, even after he had referenced her negatively during a debate answer. His off-kilter remarks have been called Trumpisms, and they fall anywhere along the spectrum from insulting (calling people “stupid”), to alarmingly refreshing (“when you give (money to politicians), they do whatever the hell you want them to do”).
Will his style of irreverent humor continue to poll well among Americans who are disgusted with Washington political correctness? Is his campaign some sort of clever joke played by the Democrats, to siphon away Republican votes as a possible Independent candidate after the primary? Or … is his campaign merely “meme-bait”?
Only time will tell.
But one thing’s for certain. Humorous memes with their ability to spread like wildfire? They’re not going anywhere.
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