The White House dug up an old meme only for it to instantly blow up in its face.
It used its official account to tease President Donald Trump’s base with a joke about UFOs, asking followers to zoom in on a pixelated black-and-white image for a “surprise.”
What greeted them, however, may have been underwhelming: the words “make America great again.”
The abuse followed.
Replies using the same format poured into the comments section, including a torrent of jokes about Trump’s relationship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, or demands to “open the f-ing strait.”
Trump knew Epstein for more than 10 years, and the pair corresponded and socialized together. Trump is not accused of and has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s crimes.
He has, however, come under fire from across the political spectrum to fully release the investigative files gathered in connection with the convicted predator. Some of the files were finally publicized after a congressional act mandating their release. Then, after multiple delays, they were heavily redacted, with some sheets totally unreadable.
The fiasco led to further fury, especially among parts of the MAGA movement, which had long called for transparency over the scandal.
The release of government UFO files has also long been a source of MAGA frustration, with a chorus of calls asking for greater transparency there, too.
On Friday, the Pentagon partly acquiesced to that demand, releasing a tranche of files without any analysis, leaving it up to the rest of the world to make of it what they will.
Trump was quick to brag about it, writing on Truth Social, “Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’” He then added, “Have Fun and Enjoy!”
The Defense Department’s website features a rotating carousel of dozens of black-and-white images, like the one posted on the White House.
The move hasn’t gone down perfectly for the administration.
“What doesn’t totally make sense is why now—disclosure—other than, I mean, this is being cynical. The Iran War is not going well, the American public’s very upset, a lot of people don’t think we should have ever been involved in that in the first place,” said once Trumpy podcaster Joe Rogan.
“And we need some good news.”
Rogan has since put daylight between himself and the administration over the war with Iran. Several right-wing commentators have been critical of the bombardment and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the likes of Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Alex Jones splitting from the president entirely.
“We need something to distract us,” the podcaster continued. “We need something to take our focus off of...”
The “zoom-in for a surprise” meme format has been around for a while, and it wasn’t such a hit when it was first invented either. A BuzzFeed article headlined “This Meme Is Making People Zoom Into A Picture And It’s A Complete Waste Of Time,” was published in 2017.