Why 2020 is the ‘meme election’

President Donald Trump and Democratic candidates like Michael Bloomberg are increasingly using memes in 2020, leaning into the online joke format to make their political cases. Chris Cillizza explains why memes are so important in our current political discourse.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
‘Thanks Obama.’ The evolution of a meme that defined a presidency.
.

Bernie Sanders is winning the 2020 meme race, but can internet fandom get him elected?
.

New Trump ad revives — and mainstreams — ‘Sick Hillary’ attack
.

Hillary Clinton Says ‘Radical Fringe’ Is Taking Over G.O.P. Under Donald Trump
.

Hillary Clinton’s alt-right speech, annotated
.

How Russian Trolls Used Meme Warfare to Divide America
.

Biden parodies Bloomberg memes in video featuring Obama criticism
.

How Elizabeth Warren Turned Herself Into A Meme
.

Wake Up, Democrats! Memes Matter in the Race to 2020
.

You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish
.

Donald Trump 'likes his intelligence briefings filled with pictures', says new report
.

Here are the memes Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign paid influencers to post on Instagram
.

Michael Bloomberg’s Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere
.

About me:
I was named "best dressed" in 7th grade. That, along with being CNN's editor at large and author of the daily "Point" newsletter are my proudest achievements. Look for me here every Tuesday and Thursday to find out what’s really going down in politics.

CREDITS
Writer: Chris Cillizza
The Point team: Leigh Munsil and Allison Gordon
Editor: Michelle Cho
Producer: Arielle Sacks

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61 comments

    1. YOU! you are a meme because you cant get ANYTHING right. how do you still have a job? you are a hack and a meme.

    1. Child rapist democrats cannot meme, which is why they lost.
      Kiddie fiddler democrats have zero sense of humor and are fucking BORING.
      These facts makes kid fucker democrats *_very_* angry:
      *_”Since we cannot meme… we should shut down thedonald so noone can”_*

    1. What is really cool is yet another Democratic politician has been arrested is facing 50 years in jail .
      Corruption of course
      https://youtu.be/axZvIFIx9HU
      Abraham Lincoln called the Democratics the party of thiefs .
      In hundreds of years nothing has changed .

    1. I LOVED that meme of the cnn logo on the wrestlers head as trump body slammed him .
      Cnn cried like the limp wristed sissys they are .
      They love to dish it out . But go crying to mommy when it comes back around . Poor babies

    1. Well he is a libtard. it goes with the territory . Every ” man” at cnn is getting bent over by his “male” coworker/boyfriend .

    1. @fernando contreras talks like a white guy and eats bland macaroni and cheese in public, but never burritos. He’ll say “hey bro! This macaroni sure is swell!”

      But late at night, he secretly eats a taco bell taco with a shell made of cool ranch doritos when nobody is looking

    2. @Dirt Ball

      >talks like a white guy

      I didn’t know you could hear his voice over text. Also, why did you delete your reply to me earlier. I thought it was funny.

    1. @buddy guy I would imagine so but if he isnt you’re free to make a list of those who are. Right or left, people are going to be funny no matter what.

    2. +JustChizzin Why does it matter if the comedian is liberal or conservative? The point is that liberals have destroyed comedy. You can’t make a black, fat, gay, transgender, attractive woman, or disabled joke without the PC police ruining your career. A club in Montreal even banned one white comedian because he had dreadlocks.

    3. @James Davis you can say the same about the righ being biased whiny little bitches. You can also like your own comment all you want. It’s not going to convince anybody that right wingers are perfect

  1. Why did y’all go after a kid who made a meme on CNN? Don’t claim you can understand how memes can cause influence when you guys can’t even deal with a mid-teir meme. 😐

  2. Everything about this, from the setup used for background, to him, the “jokes”… everything… everything, is a failure

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