[Hal Riney's voiceover]
It's morning again in America. Today, more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. [Speech starts slowing down]
With interest rates at about half the record highs of 1980, nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes... [glitch] [EmpLemon]
Yep, that's U.S. You're probably wondering how we ended up in this situation. How did he do it?
How did Donald Trump win the presidential election? It's been one whole year since he did it, and it still doesn't even feel real. I mean, you're telling me, the guy who shaved Vince McMahon's head and got stunned by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania just a decade ago, is now the elected leader of the most powerful nation on Earth? Now, there are lots of theories out there, trying to explain how Trump won. Theories about: Russians, collusion, neo-fascism, populism, Democratic Party's incompetence, exploitation of an antiquated electoral system. But I'm not going to talk about any of that. Now, before I get into the video, I've got to give you guys full disclosure. This is NOT a political video. This is simply a video analyzing and discussing one man's rise to political power. I understand that the man I'm discussing, (Stephen Colbert gets triggered)
is perhaps the most controversial figure of the 21st century so far,
(he gets triggered to the point of bending reality) but I don't really give a shit. So you can go ahead and scorch that comment section all you want about political arguments. You'll just be wasting your time - because this is not a video about politics. This is a video about memes. This is a video about...
[Initial D theme song ensues]
Meme Theory! So, at this point a lot of you are probably expecting a video, discussing how meme magic, the cult of Kek, 4chan and the formation of the alt-right caused Trump to become president. But that's not what this video is about either. I really hate to say it, but Pepe didn't cause Trump to win the election. 4chan didn't cause Trump to win the election. I know it makes a really fun narrative to pretend that's what happened, but it's just too far-fetched. The reality is, that 4chan is not single-handedly powerful enough to swing an election. /pol/ is the driving force behind 4chan's political aura. The board averaged the population of around 130,000 users, in the months preceding the election. Now, assuming all of those users are of voting age,
and all of those users voted for Trump, which are two pretty lofty assumptions - that's 130,000 votes on Trump's side. So... how do you account for the other 62,5 million? I mean, obviously it's absurd to think, that spamming pictures of frogs can impact a presidential election. Memes are just silly pictures on the Internet after all, and there's no way that something as insignificant as memes can have that much influence. [suspense] OR CAN THEY? [Michael Stevens]
Hey! Vsauce, Michael here. Hey / HAY! / hEy! [doubled and quadrupled]
Vsauce, Michael here. Hey! Hey. Hey, that's pretty good. You see, when most people think about memes, they think of only just that. Silly pictures on the Internet. That's not exactly true. The definition of meme extends much further, than what most people think. The word "meme" was first coined by Richard Dawkins, as a combination of the English word "gene" and the Greek word "mimẽma". Essentially, a meme is just an element of human culture, that gets reproduced by people sharing it. It's a misconception that memes have to come from the Internet, or that they have to be image templates. Memes can be anything and they can come from anywhere. Memes can be words, spoken or printed.
They can be events, people, faces, characters, both fictional and real. So if memes can be basically anything, what's stopping just ANYthing, say, a piece of lettuce with a pencil stuck through it, from becoming a meme? Well, that's where you come in.
People decide, and they do it subconsciously. The most important determining factors in separating memes from ordinary things, are exposure and repetition. [Michael says his signature opening phrase again] Anything has the potential to become a meme. This is evident in the extreme variety of memes today. The big "Meme of the Week" is seemingly random. However, one of the easiest ways to understand why memes become popular, is to quantify their prior exposure and repetition through mass media. There's a psychological phenomenon, known as the "
h͍͓̓̈̉ͩ̀̐̃͝e̶̺̫͔͕͚ͫͮl͍̭̝̂ͨ͌̚͡p̜͗̄̓͐ͤ̀̅́ ̩ṁ͖̺̝ͥ͞ë̩̤͓͍͚̩́̀͐̽͌ ̸̟̥̣̟̙̀͊̊̊̃̑̾͗͆̾͘ ̸̧̡̯̲̼̱̣̞̳͈͎̦͎͖̪͐̿̐̅͘ ̴̠̤̫͙̮̹̙̞̹̗̮̫̯̋͗̽͋ͅ ̸̢̛̛͕̝̹̊̎͂̎́̄̽̀͋͒̈͝ḅ̸̨̯͚̺͙̲̼̆ ̴͖̟̰̘͈͕̺̲͕̠̞̌̽͑̉͒̊̈́́̚o̵̬͍̤̬͔̱̝̟̜̿̽̈́̏̏̀̄̌̋̐̀̑̽͝͝ ̴̟̤̞̱̼̅̾̍̑̉ī̴̢̧͕̗͇̼̘̜͓̖͍͙̪̖̏̌͗̈̎̀̚ͅe̴͓͔̤͔̯̟̤̠̞͈̬͔̗̔̀͒̆̈̑̃̋͌̄͛̓ ̵̛̛̺̙͓̘͎̲̩͓̹̜͚̇́̍̓̾̒̀̐́̏̑x̵̧̡͓͙͔̱̗̼́̐͂͂͒̆̇̊̎͠͠ ̷̢̱͕̟̋̈́͠ẗ̸̡͇͍̮̬̭̺̺͍̞̞͙͕̽́̔͂̇ ̴̻̃͗̅̔́́ȑ̶̳͉͈̾̿ ̷̪̪̭͈͎̟̟͚̰̑͐̏̓̃̿̃̒a̸̛͉̖̭̭͖̪͖̖̰̝̜͌͋̾͑͋͗̐̆̂̃̀̋͋̈́͜ ̷̢̛̞̭͇̠̬̲͚̩̤̗̖̐ ̷̨̰̫̞̯̹͓͓̟̼̳͇̌͐̃̑̽͊ ̵̝̝̗̹̗̤͙̱̮̥̘͖̔̐̑̑̂̉̓͆̔̓͜͜͜ ̸̡̯̟̊̓̾̓͒͘̕t̶͚̫̳͉̳̥̠́̈̐͋́̕͝ ̵̭̼̘͉͓̉͑̽̄̐͆̚͠ĥ̴̢̡̰̦͚͎͎ ̶̱̠̘̰̒̅̊̾̾į̴̧̭͚̞̜̦̞̘̪̠̗̒̉̉̀͒͐̓ ̴̢̧̟̣̲̘̺̻̹̦͋̂͜͝ͅc̴̢̱͖̖̼̪̮̱͙̙͗̀ͅͅ ̷͉̖̥͎̌ͅç̷̨̨̩̹̩̞͎̟̱̩̼̟̝̅̿̍͜͠͝ ̸̟̥̣̟̙̀͊̊̊̃̑̾͗͆̾͘ ̸̧̡̯̲̼̱̣̞̳͈͎̦͎͖̪͐̿̐̅͘ ̴̠̤̫͙̮̹̙̞̹̗̮̫̯̋͗̽͋ͅ ̸̢̛̛͕̝̹̊̎͂̎́̄̽̀͋͒̈͝ḅ̸̨̯͚̺͙̲̼̆ ̴͖̟̰̘͈͕̺̲͕̠̞̌̽͑̉͒̊̈́́̚o̵̬͍̤̬͔̱̝̟̜̿̽̈́̏̏̀̄̌̋̐̀̑̽͝͝ ̴̟̤̞̱̼̅̾̍̑̉ī̴̢̧͕̗͇̼̘̜͓̖͍͙̪̖̏̌͗̈̎̀̚ͅe̴͓͔̤͔̯̟̤̠̞͈̬͔̗̔̀͒̆̈̑̃̋͌̄͛̓ ̵̛̛̺̙͓̘͎̲̩͓̹̜͚̇́̍̓̾̒̀̐́̏̑x̵̧̡͓͙͔̱̗̼́̐͂͂͒̆̇̊̎͠͠ ̷̢̱͕̟̋̈́͠ẗ̸̡͇͍̮̬̭̺̺͍̞̞͙͕̽́̔͂̇ ̴̻̃͗̅̔́́ȑ̶̳͉͈̾̿ ̷̪̪̭͈͎̟̟͚̰̑͐̏̓̃̿̃̒a̸̛͉̖̭̭͖̪͖̖̰̝̜͌͋̾͑͋͗̐̆̂̃̀̋͋̈́͜ ̷̢̛̞̭͇̠̬̲͚̩̤̗̖̐ ̷̨̰̫̞̯̹͓͓̟̼̳͇̌͐̃̑̽͊ ̵̝̝̗̹̗̤͙̱̮̥̘͖̔̐̑̑̂̉̓͆̔̓͜͜͜ ̸̡̯̟̊̓̾̓͒͘̕t̶͚̫̳͉̳̥̠́̈̐͋́̕͝ ̵̭̼̘͉͓̉͑̽̄̐͆̚͠ĥ̴̢̡̰̦͚͎͎ ̶̱̠̘̰̒̅̊̾̾į̴̧̭͚̞̜̦̞̘̪̠̗̒̉̉̀͒͐̓ ̴̢̧̟̣̲̘̺̻̹̦͋̂͜͝ͅc̴̢̱͖̖̼̪̮̱͙̙͗̀ͅͅ ̷͉̖̥͎̌ͅç̷̨̨̩̹̩̞͎̟̱̩̼̟̝̅̿̍͜͠͝ ̸̟̥̣̟̙̀͊̊̊̃̑̾͗͆̾͘ ̸̧̡̯̲̼̱̣̞̳͈͎̦͎͖̪͐̿̐̅͘ ̴̠̤̫͙̮̹̙̞̹̗̮̫̯̋͗̽͋ͅ ̸̢̛̛͕̝̹̊̎͂̎́̄̽̀͋͒̈͝ ", where people develop preferences for familiar things. Basically, if you repeat something enough, people will like it! This single principle is what allows brands, icons and memes, to become so widespread. Memes are simply conceptual viruses. Most memes just lay dormant in the back of people's minds, before becoming popular. Maybe it's a cheesy earworm from a popular song.
Maybe it's a zany one-liner from a sitcom. Maybe it's a dumb character from a childhood cartoon. Like a virus, a meme spreads further, if many people become exposed to it early on. Soon after a random event triggers the meme to spread, suddenly everyone around you is talking about this meme. You see it show up more and more, until finally you're using it yourself. You've been infected through repetition, and now you'll inevitably infect others. Memes do not spread on their own.
They cannot spread on their own. And just as a biological virus is powerless without a host, memes are powerless without their hosts, which happens to be the human brain. Once again, psychology is at work here. The reason memes exist, spread, and influence our culture, is that we enjoy them on a psychological level. Memes are exceptionally appealing to us because of how our brains function. Schemas, heuristics and chunking are all major psychological concepts, dictating, that human thought is heavily operated upon the representation of raw information through small manageable pieces. We understand concepts better by packaging them into familiar bits. Our brains do this automatically, in order to efficiently store information. Memes are socially generated concepts, that reflect our psychological methods for information processing. Through a meme, it is possible to compress a complex issue, narrative or emotion, into a single image or phrase. Simply put, a meme is the fastest way to put an idea in someone's head. So now that we've defined memes and how they work, let's go back to the main question of this video: How did Trump use them to become president? In order to answer that, we must first consider how anyone becomes president. In order to become president, one must first meet the minimum contitutional requirements, in addition to becoming an expert on: both international and domestic politics, law, history and debate. It is paramount, that an aspiring president first spends decades serving in public office or the military, slowly building the reputation, credibility and experience, all while working their way up the ranks, until they're either a U.S. senator, State governor, or military General. It is only at this point, when an American politician can even attempt a presidential campaign, and gain any sort of traction whatsoever. From this point they must engage in up to 18 months of arduous strategizing, traveling, fundraising, marketing, and debating in order to persuade enough people to vote for them, to become the nominee of one of the two major American political parties. And at this point, you just have to hope and pray that half of the voters like you more than the other guy. And finally, after all that struggle - you can become President of the United States. Going into 2015, Trump met the bare constitutional requirements. [...] ...maybe we're gonna have to approach this from a different angle. So fuck all this dumb shit for nerds. How does anyone REALLY become president? Well, in order to achieve the most powerful position of political power in the world, with no prior political experience, we have to approach the challenge from a top-down perspective. [His Majesty, President Donald J. Trump]
It's not too big, is it? If you've ever gone to school, you're probably familiar with the multiple choice test. Now normally, (if you're a fucking nerd), you gotta study all the material on the test, in order to answer the test questions and bubble in the correct answer choice. But technically, the first two steps aren't necessary in order to get a good grade: for a multiple-choice test, passing the test only really requires you to bubble in the correct sequence of letters, in order. And for this reason, is possible to average a 25% on a multiple-choice test, even if you know 0% of the information. Just choose "A" every time, and 1 out of 4 of your answers will be correct. For a "true-or-false" test, the odds are even more in your favor. By choosing "A" every time, you'll average a 50%, despite knowing 0% of the information being tested. Now obviously, schools have caught onto this, which is why 50% is still an F. However, in a two-party electoral system, 50% is usually enough to win you an election. So let's apply this logic to a presidential election. In order to become president, you need to follow these steps. Step 1: Become Easily Recognized by the Public. You have a much better chance of winning, if a bunch of people already know who you are. Since 1980, almost all presidential elections have been won by candidate, that was already well-known by the American public. Step 2: Run as a Democrat or a Republican. Democrats and Republicans have won every single presidential election since the Civil War. In order to become president, you must become the nominee for one of these parties. Step 3: Have about 50% of the Voters Vote for You. Partisan politics have become an epidemic. You can host the most clumsy and awkward campaign ever, and about half the voters will still vote for you, because you have a (D) or an (R) next to your name. Weak candidates can use this to their advantage. Since 1980, the winning president has almost always won with close to 50% of the popular vote. Sometimes they won with less than 50%. And in order for a longshot like Trump, to have any chance of becoming president, he was going to have to rely on all of these steps. And he did it - using memes. Donald Trump started out as just another wealthy New York City businessman, so what made him different? Well, Trump just really liked to put his name on stuff. I mean, he REALLY liked to put his name on stuff. Trump made it clear from early on, that his strategy as a businessman was not to build luxury apartments, but to build himself into a brand. There actually isn't that much separating a brand from a meme. They're functionally identical. Both condense big concepts into a single name or image. Brands are basically just corporate memes. And it just so happens, that Trump was in the perfect position to become a living meme. Trump is a verb meaning "to defeat by doing better". Coincidentally, Trump's own name succinctly represented the power, prestige and dominance, associated with a wealthy New York businessman. In 1978, Trump commenced the construction of Trump Tower, a 58-storey luxury skyscraper in Manhattan. The location of Manhattan is important, because Manhattan is the financial and cultural center of New York City, the biggest city in North America. Manhattan is home to globally renowned landmarks: Times Square, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centers, and now Trump Tower. Trump put his name on one of the biggest landmarks in the heart of New York City, leaving millions to wonder: "Who is this Trump fellow?" In order for a meme to spread, it must first have a means of spreading. Today, basically every meme gets spread through the Internet. Everyone in our society is connected to the Internet, which makes it the fastest way for ideas and memes to spread. In the 1980s, mass media was very different. Instead of the Internet, almost all Americans got their information through network television: NBC, CBS and ABC. And it just so happens, that all three of the major networks had headquarters located in Manhattan, just a few miles away from Trump Tower. New York City was the center of mass media in the United States. And it will be this media, that would transform Trump from businessman to celebrity. [Talk-show host]
Donald Trump, as I say, is just 33 years old. [...] He now has an apartment for sale, in a new Trump building called the Trump Tower. [EmpLemon]
Starting around 1980, Donald Trump began to make appearances on national television. First it was just a few interviews, then it was cameos... - Donald Trump! ...[then] ads; entire television programs centered around Donald Trump. From the perspective of the networks, they were just exploiting an easily available resource. Donald Trump was inherently interesting to the American public. - Look at this, right here on the street! It's Donald Trump! Trump: What are you, morons? While most billionaire business tycoons try to avoid the spotlight, Trump reveled in it. Americans just kept seeing this bold, confident man on their television sets, over and over again. The focus wasn't on who he was, but what he represented. You didn't have to know anything about Trump, to recognize that he was rich, tough and successful, just by the way he acted on television. Trump embodied the spirit of capitalism, that was rampant in the 80s. And many Americans admired and idolized him as a symbol of wealth and power. Trump stayed consistently relevant in the American public for 20 years after that. He had truly become one of the most recognized men in America. [Ice Cube]
Well, you know, Donald Trump is what Americans love. Donald Trump is what Americans... aspire to be. Rich, powerful, 'do what you wanna do', 'say what you wanna say', 'be how you wanna be'. That's kinda been like, the... the American dream. So... He looks like a boss to everybody, and Americans love to have a boss. So, you know, that's his appeal to me. [Ice Cube's "I Gotta Say What Up!!!",
from his 1990 Kill At Will EP] "Dear Ronald Thump: if you ever wanna see your precious little Baby Thump again, bring a million smackers in unmarked bills to 22 Elm Street." Dead meme xD You can't escape the
DOWNWARD SPIRAL So by now in our story, Trump had completed the first step in becoming president: becoming well recognized by the general public. Now he was ready to actually run for president, which he had to do as either a Democrat or a Republican, in order to have any chance of winning. But which party would give him the best chance of winning? Trump's party affiliation history is actually quite interesting, and few people are aware of it. Starting in the 80s, Trump was actually regarded as a Democrat. In 1987 he registered as a Republican, and remained that way for about a decade. Then in 1999, he joined the independent Reform Party, where he tried to run for president. That's right, Trump actually launched an exploratory campaign for the 2000 presidential election, 17 years before he became the most controversial political figure in the country. He ended up dropping out before the primaries - due to party infighting, but it's interesting nonetheless. Then, starting in 2001, he was a Democrat again... - Do you identify more as a Democrat or a Republican? - Well you'd be shocked, if I said that in many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat. ...until 2009, when he registered as a Republican again. Now, when average observer would look at this data and call Trump a flip-flopper, a figurehead that can't make up his mind on issues. But that's not how I see it. Something's up here. And it becomes apparent, when you compare Trump's party affiliation to the president's party through time. Trump's party position has almost always been contrarian to the acting president, and I believe that this was an intentional strategy. Trump appeared to be playing towards a theory in modern politics, called "The Political Pendulum". Not since George Bush in 1992, has one party won the presidential election 3 times in a row. In fact, every president since then has been elected for two terms, and then succeeded by a president of the opposing party. Trump was seemingly positioning his political affiliation to give himself the greatest advantage, if you were to consider running for president. So after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, completing the Democratic Party "trifecta" of the Presidency, the Senate Majority and the House Majority, Trump's choice became clear - he had to run as a Republican. And this ultimately made the most sense for Trump, and gave him the best chance of winning. Trump was aging, and so were his admirers from the 80s. - I've been now around long... You know, I think of myself as a young guy, but I'm not so young anymore. Older people tend to vote Republican, so all Trump had to do, was give them what they wanted. At this point, Trump was well known by the public and he had his political party. Now all he had left to do, was his biggest challenge yet: Getting enough people to vote for him. The year is 2009, and the world has become a very different place, since Trump first entered the public eye. The once friendly mainstream media had become politically charged and divided. The rise of the Internet provided humanity with a tremendous gift and a debilitating curse. Information was more accessible than ever, yet truth seemed harder than ever to find. Americans have become more politicized, cynical, and distrustful than ever before. Celebrities now faced unprecedented scrutiny from the public, with one slip-up having the potential of becoming national news. As you can see, Trump had quite the uphill battle ahead of him. But luckily for him, one other thing had changed since the 80s: Memes! Thanks to the Internet, memes now had more influence over people than ever before. And if Trump knew one thing, it was how to make good memes. If you look back in recent history, presidential legacies are remembered most fundamentally through memes. [Richard M. Nixon, 17 Nov 1973]
"Because people have got to know, whether or not their president's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." [Ronald Reagan, 12 Jun 1987]
"Tear down this wall." [George Bush Sr., 18 Aug 1988]
"Read my lips." [Bill Clinton, 26 Jan 1998]
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." And we use these little memes from the past, to judge their whole reputation in the present. Two of the most fondly remembered presidents of the 20th century are Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. And unsurprisingly, they have been responsible for two of the most recognizable quotations of all time. [FDR's 1st Inaugural address, March 4, 1933]
"...that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." [JFK's Inaugural address, January 20, 1961]
"Ask not, what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Both of these presidents were very skilled communicators. So they broke their language down into memes, to make their speeches more memorable and impactful. But FDR and JFK also had something else in common. In order for a meme to spread, it must have a means of spreading. And both of these presidents utilized new methods of technology, in order to spread their messages. FDR was the first president to regularly address America using the radio. And for many Americans listening to FDR speak with his own voice, in their own homes, established an unprecedented new connection between the president and the public. There's a reason why FDR was the only president elected four times in a row. Americans really trusted him. And much of that trust was built upon not the content, but the means of its communication. Similarly, JFK became the first television president. During the 1960 election, a key turning point came during the first televised presidential debate in history, between JFK and Richard Nixon. Kennedy used the televised broadcast to his advantage, appearing much more confident and photogenic than Nixon. 70 million Americans watched the debates, and most of them left with the impression that Kennedy had won. Momentum, that Kennedy used to narrowly win the election. Once again, the means of communication made the difference in the election. So just as FDR used the radio, and JFK used the television, Donald Trump used Twitter, to give himself an advantage over other candidates. That's right - Trump's twitter. Donald Trump's twitter is his greatest weakness, but also his greatest strength. Donald Trump's twitter opens him up to the most tremendous amount of scrutiny, that any presidential candidate has ever had to face. Trump's tweets are unfiltered, uncensored and unsubstantiated. Any controversial thing he says, puts a big, giant, glowing target on his back visible to the entire world. So considering all of this, how could Trump's twitter possibly give him an advantage? The answer is memes. Twitter is an exceptional site for the spread of memes. The fundamental mechanics of Twitter, as a social network, facilitate the viral spread of information. In order for Trump to rebrand himself as a politician, he would have to use Twitter to spread his messages as efficiently as possible. Twitter would allow Trump to deliver words from his brain directly to the American people. And there are two things that spread furthest on Twitter:
controversy and memes. Donald Trump was about to take the site by storm with some controversial memes. e.g. 1: Make America Great Again All of the pieces were in place for Trump to begin his presidential gambit. Trump had his audience, his direction, and his vehicle for a hostile takeover of American politics. Now was the time for action. Nobody was prepared for what Trump was about to do. Maybe that's why they were so shocked.
Maybe that's why they were so mad. You had to be a little mad to realize, what Trump was doing. Trump was about to rise to political power - and he was about to do so through the dark arts of Weaponized Memes. Only the dankest minds on the Internet had theorized their existence, but nobody thought that anyone in power would actually be mad enough to use them, much less a presidential candidate. Most people just see memes as harmless fun. And most of the time, that's just what they are.
But memes have a dark side. Just as they have the power to build people up, memes have the power to tear people down. Howard Dean was a guy who ran for president in 2004. He was a good candidate, who was pretty much ahead of his time. Dean had pioneered the strategy of using the Internet for grassroots fundraising. Dean used this strategy to become a clear Democratic frontrunner, heading into the Iowa caucus. And then it all came crashing down around him. [Concession speech, 19 Jan 2004, Iowa]
"And we're going to South Dakota, and Oregon, and Washington, and Michigan! And then we're going to Washington D.C. to take back the White House, YEEEAUGH! (echoes)
YEEEAUGH! (slowed down)
YEEEAUGH!!! (iT AlL comEs crAShInG dOwn) (Conan O'Brien's smugness) (flashbacks of incessant and relentless media articles) (Downward spiral) (Howard Dean gives up not even a full month later) "Oh, the humanity!" This one soundbite, a tiny innocent slip-up, this was enough to destroy Howard Dean's entire campaign. All that preparation, all the years grinding and working his way up the political chain, all the strategizing, all of Dean's policies, his platform, his entire political agenda. None of it mattered. Howard Dean's campaign was completely destroyed by one little meme. Trump was well aware of the capacity for memes to destroy a candidate. He understood how the American media worked, being a subject of it for 30 years. He recognized their capacity to eviscerate the public image of any candidate, and he knew how to avoid that fate. Donald Trump was ready to become president, and here's how he did it. "Now, the first order of business is to blame everything on the guy before me." We start in March 2011. Trump had previously teased a run for president in the 2012 election, but ultimately decided against it, despite being one of the highest polling candidates. Trump decides to attack President Obama about the validity of his birth certificate. Beginning in July, Trump brings his political rantings to his Twitter account. Trump's comments are highly controversial and draw heavy media attention. Through this experience, Trump sacrifices his relatively clean public image to liberals and the political establishment, while endearing himself to hardcore conservatives. Trump initiates his transition from celebrity to political figurehead. Trump continues his criticism of Obama in the 2012. During this year, he witnesses Mitt Romney run a squeaky-clean campaign, in which he keeps controversy to a bare minimum. Romney runs one of the most bland and cautious campaigns in recent history, up until his infamous "47%" comment. (Downward spiral strikes again!) Over the course of the 2012 election, Trump would double down on this anti-Obama crusade, slamming the President on almost every opportunity. Trump didn't let up. He didn't let up for more than three years. Once again, this was all part of his transition from celebrity to politician. And on June 15, 2015, Donald Trump announced to the world, that he was running for president. He spoke for over 45 minutes, but only two things stuck out. 1) "I will build a great, great wall, on our southern border." 2) "...and we are going to make our country great again!" And as you would probably expect, no one took him seriously. Everyone laughed at him. The things Trump said, were just so ridiculous. And ridiculed he was.
Trump got ridiculed in the news. Ridiculed on talk shows.
Ridiculed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. Overnight, Trump became a national pariah. Many would have called Trump's debut a total disaster. But it wasn't. Donald Trump had actually made one of the greatest presidential debuts of all time. Why? Because it got people talking. On every news network across America, on your Twitter feed, on your Facebook feed. Everyone was talking about Trump. They saw his big, bold logo, they questioned building a wall, and they debated making America great again. Through his debut, we can perfectly observe the duality of Trump's meme strategy - offense and defense. Let's start with his first meme: build a wall. It's offensive. It's controversial. Controversy leads to attention, and attention leads to a viral meme. And then we have the opposite kind of meme: Make America Great Again, which is perhaps the most effective campaign slogan of the 21st century. It's a meme, that is inherently defensive. It relies on supporters rallying around it, and spouting the same message to more and more people. These two memes were the building blocks of Trump's campaign. They gave him attention. They gave him support. But most importantly: they gave him a clear direction. Politics are complicated.
A lot of Americans get mad about politics, but very few Americans actually understand politics. Most Americans just don't have the time to research politics. Some Americans are just too lazy, and some Americans are just too stupid. Many politicians struggle to communicate their platform to anyone, short of the most advanced observers, because their messages are just too complicated. As a result, they're ignored and forgotten. Trump understood this. His solution was to use memes to communicate a simple message to as many people as possible. Because after all, a meme is the fastest way to put an idea in someone's head. Donald Trump began his celebrity status as a media darling. He was about to become their worst enemy. For the next 18 months, Donald Trump would throttle the media with an endless stream of controversial bits, quips and memes. - Because they asked me what I'd do, and I said "I'm gonna bomb the shit out of them." - Look at my African-American over here. - And I watch our Police and our Firemen down on 7-Eleven, down the World Trade Center. - Autism has become an epidemic. Every news channel in America essentially became "Trump TV". The media wanted desperately to tear him down, just as they had done with Mitt Romney and Howard Dean. But Trump was different. Both Romney and Dean had a single controversial moment, that drew all of the media's focus. Trump gave the media a new controversial moment every week. The media couldn't fixate itself on a single problem, and the problems just sort of faded into the background. The only common denominator was Donald Trump's name. And Donald Trump would milk the media for 5 billion dollars worth of free publicity. Furthermore, by baiting the media to focus on petty self-made controversy, Trump overshadowed his most glaring weakness: his total lack of political expertise. NBC, CNN, and even Fox News were all trying to destroy him, but little did they know, they were actually playing right into Trump's advantage, and spreading his memes further, than campaign advertising ever could. There was no turning back. Trump was sacrificing his entire public image, his whole legacy, for a shot at becoming president. Trump was all in, and the media called his bluff. Game on! - My new game is "Trump - The Game".
- Go big or go home! In order to become president, Trump had to first become the Republican Party nominee. He entered a field with 16 other Republican candidates, the largest field of any party in American history. You'd think that this would provide Trump with a huge struggle, but once again, it actually played into his advantage. Thanks to the extremely disproportionate amount of media coverage on Trump, in both news broadcasts and televised debates, Americans viewed the whole Republican primary process as "Trump vs. The Field". Even though the other candidates were real politicians with real political experience, they simply couldn't get their brands out there to the people, because Trump soaked up everyone's attention. Since there were so many Republican candidates starving to share airtime with Trump, no one could get adequate coverage. They all just kinda tripped over each other. And heading into the Republican debates, only a few candidates even posed a threat to Trump. And if you thought that these veteran politicians would humiliate Trump in a real political debate, then you'd be wrong again.
(Trump says "Wrong") Trump shut down ALL of them with simple name-calling. But not just any name-calling.
Trump eliminated his competition with Weaponized Memes. "The weakest person on this stage, by far, is Jeb Bush". "And we don't need a weak person being President of the United States, okay?" "You're gonna have to get out there yourself, Jeb." "Weak. Weak, pathetic, people.
Low-energy is a better term." "Don't worry about it, Little Marco.
Little Marco, little Marco." "Now you look at Kasich - I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion." "It's disgusting. Do you want that for your president? I don't think so!" Trump: But it's not what you said out there.
Cruz: Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Trump. Lyin' Ted. "Lyin' Ted, I call him Lyin' Ted." "He holds up the Bible, and that he puts it down, and then he lies, okay? Lyin' Ted." You may think that this is completely ridiculous, and that childish name-calling could never supplant real political argumentation. But the results speak for themselves. Megyn Kelly:
You called women you don't like: fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account... Donald Trump:
Only Rosie O'Donnell. [crowd cheering] Megyn Kelly:
No, it wasn't. [crowd is cheering even more] The Iowa caucuses took place on February 1st, 2016. Even at this early point in the race, 5 candidates already dropped out, because they couldn't gain any sort of traction over the oversaturated field. And in the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump earned more votes than all about one candidate. This wasn't a joke anymore. This was for real. These votes counted. The voters were validating Trump as a serious candidate. His strategies were working. After the caucuses three more candidates withdrew from the race. On February 9th, Trump won the New Hampshire primary. Three more candidates withdrew. On the 20th, Trump won South Carolina. He was now the clear front-runner in the race. Jeb Bush, who many political pundits viewed as an early favorite, dropped out of the race after just three states elections. By mid-March, just two other candidates remain. And on May 3rd, Ted Cruz dropped out of the race, leaving Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump didn't just defeat his opponents. He crushed them. Donald Trump won the nomination, with the largest margin of victory in the history of the Republican primaries. He took a struggling and divided party, and united it under a single platform. Donald Trump was THE Republican candidate. And he had just one more challenge separating him from the presidency. You guys know the story after this. What followed, was one of the most brutal and divisive elections in American history. Both candidates engaged in what was essentially "meme warfare". Clinton's email servers vs. Trump's pussy grab.
Racist Donald vs. Crooked Hillary. Legend has it, that at some point the candidates talked about actual political issues... but historians still dispute this. Anyway, at the end of the day, Trump had better memes than Hillary. "Make America Great Again" it's just so much more of an impactful campaign slogan than Hillary's. What was hers again?
"Love Trump's Hate"? It literally has Trump's name in it! That can't be right. Maybe it was "Amerika is great, because Amerika is guud." The hell does that even mean? Oh, I got it.
Her real campaign slogan was... "Pokémon Go to the polls." On November 8th, 2016, Americans' Pokémon went to the polls, and elected Donald Trump President of the United States. And you can complain all you want about it. You can call the system rigged. You can say he cheated. You can riot in the streets. You can call everyone who voted for Trump a racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic moron. You can do whatever you want. But it won't change the fact that Donald Trump, a man with no formal political experience, used memes to get elected to the most powerful political office in the world. And sure, he might have trashed the rest of America to do it, but you know what they say... "The End Justifies The Memes." Oprah Winfrey:
This sounds like political, presidential talk to me, and I know people have talked to you about whether or not you wanna run. You've said though, that if you did run for president, you believe you'd win. Donald Trump:
Well I don't know, I think I'd win. I tell you what, I wouldn't go into lose. EmpLemon:
But hey, that's just a theory, a MEME theory! Thanks for unsubscribing! ["American Dad!" end credits theme] [Give him a sub tho']
Please stop hurting me
🤢
This is just sad.
The same EmperorLemon that shoehorned 9/11 jokes into every other YTP he made? Who'da thunk it?