MAKE IT MAKE SENSE: Government of the memes, by the memes, for the memes
At the White House, the line between policy and trolling is blurry. But the memeification of fascism has very serious consequences
In today’s letter: How Donald Trump’s posting-through-it presidency may seem like a joke, but darkly serves his agenda.
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A joke went around online troll circles after Donald Trump first won the presidency in 2016, that the alternate world of the internet had somehow managed to conquer reality. As one frequenter of 4chan’s /pol/ messageboard wrote: “We actually elected a meme as president.”
That was bad enough the first time around, with the advent of rule-by-tweet. But in the second Trump presidency, things have taken a darker turn: policy as content farming. And it’s important to understand.
That’s what’s on display in the photo up top. Let’s investigate.