Meme Makers Applauded Pelosi’s Clapping Moment at the State of the Union

3 minute read
By Ashley Hoffman

After he applauded at his own State of the Union address in 2018, Donald Trump went viral. This year, it was his archrival, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who got all the applause online.

For Americans watching along at home, the moment was so brief you might miss it. But a a New York Times photographer Doug Mills captured a photo of Trump appearing to turn back to face Pelosi as she clapped with outstretched arms.

As always in the grand tradition of memes, the people see what they want to see, with Trump critics coming to the immediate conclusion that she was trolling the president.

Viewers got right down to captioning with the snapshot with takes ranging from pointed to silly. See below for various takes on the Nancy Pelosi SOTU meme.

Another joke? The Nancy Pelosi papers moment that hat had people wondering “what is Nancy Pelosi reading?”

Someone compared the Nancy Pelosi photo of the clapback to Lucille Bluth of Arrested Development.

Besting them all, of course 2019 Super Bowl Maroon 5 halftime show singer Adam Levine was invoked

Not everyone was into her clapping style. Criticism of clapping follows in the grand tradition of Nicole Kidman clapping memes.

This isn’t the first time she got this kind of treatment. When she emerged from the White House wearing a burnt orange, high neck peacoat and a pair of sunglasses and it resonated.

Fans of the internet-crowned “power move” assembled behind Pelosi’s exit, which called to mind a certain vibe of as the 2016 viral photo of a Hillary Clinton checking her phone on a plane while wearing shades, captured by TIME’s White House photographers.

But she has also gotten her share of Twitter jabs at her expense. When Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to a single podium to deliver their rebuttal following Trump’s Oval Office address last month, Twitter immediately moved in with a harsh meme offensive joking about them awkwardly sharing one podium.

Another take? The pair looked like two stern, disappointed parents.

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