--- title: Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony Became a Quick Meme description: Gordon Sondland's testimony has become a flash point for jokes online from his Brussels trip to a photo capturing his smile moment. canonical: https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-11-20T21:16:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T08:43:33.704Z og:title: Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony Became a Quick Meme og:description: Gordon Sondland's testimony has become a flash point for jokes online from his Brussels trip to a photo capturing his smile moment. og:url: https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89a09c866285575a/698a065c4ee2625326316a9d/gordon-sondland-3.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Gordon-Sondland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony Became a Quick Meme twitter:description: Gordon Sondland's testimony has become a flash point for jokes online from his Brussels trip to a photo capturing his smile moment. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89a09c866285575a/698a065c4ee2625326316a9d/gordon-sondland-3.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Of Course People Have Memes of Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=62167dcc-778f-4cfc-9631-e15ddde9cb81&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue [Watch (HLS stream): Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QGF0UmjP.m3u8) (3:06)  _Published 2019-11-20. Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 20, 2019 9:16 PM UTC Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 20, 2019 9:16 PM UTC After [Gordon Sondland](https://time.com/5719007/gordon-sondland-revises-testimony-ukraine-quid-pro-quo/), the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, opened his [impeachment inquiry testimony](https://time.com/5733541/gordon-sondland-testimony-live-impeachment-hearing/) by stating that he [“followed the president’s orders”](https://time.com/5733847/read-gordon-sondlands-opening-statement/) in pressuring Ukraine, the reaction on social media was swift. Sondland took the public witness stand on Wednesday to revise his testimony after originally telling impeachment investigators in October that he saw no linkage between the Trump administration’s withholding of millions of dollars of aide to Ukraine and pushing the country’s government to investigate the Bidens. The ambassador has now testified before the House Intelligence Committee that he and other U.S. officials were working at the “express direction of the President” when they cooperated with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine policy and that there was in fact a [quid pro quo](https://time.com/5719342/trump-diplomats-gordon-sondland-quid-pro-quo/). The internet quickly latched on to these claims, as well as reactions from government officials like [Rep. Devin Nunes](https://twitter.com/arlenparsa/status/1197184804502089734), and did what the internet does best: Got to joking. > [](https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1197170917765533699) > [](https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1197156482359406592) > [](https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/1197251310841683970) > [](https://twitter.com/NBChristinaGinn/status/1197202267402833920) > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryHutton/status/1197211987299586048) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/1197222625950490630) > [](https://twitter.com/goldengateblond/status/1197164874112978944) > [](https://twitter.com/1990Established/status/1197168914721116161) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/"},"headline":"Of Course People Have Memes of Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony","datePublished":"2019-11-20T21:16:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T08:43:33.704Z","description":"The U.S. ambassador to the European Union said that he \"followed the president's orders\" in pressuring Ukraine","url":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","viral","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89a09c866285575a/698a065c4ee2625326316a9d/gordon-sondland-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89a09c866285575a/698a065c4ee2625326316a9d/gordon-sondland-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gordon-Sondland","caption":"Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, arrives for a House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/","name":"Of Course People Have Memes of Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Testimony"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue","description":"Gordon Sondland's Opening Statement As Trump Impeachment Hearings Continue","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QGF0UmjP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-11-20T16:57:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QGF0UmjP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/","duration":"PT3M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5734410/gordon-sondland-jokes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```