It's Been a Minute Inside the White House meme factory
17 snips
Aug 22, 2025 
Shannon Bond, an NPR correspondent, dives into the world of memes created by the White House and DHS. She explores what these memes reveal about government communication strategies. Topics include the use of humor to address immigration policies and how such content can shape public perception. The conversation also touches on the risks of trivializing serious issues like white supremacy through meme culture. Bond’s insights provide a fascinating look at the intersection of politics and pop culture in today’s digital landscape.
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Memes As Social Currency
- Memes are the currency of social media and help government posts perform on platforms like X.
- Using memes signals membership to an online community while boosting shareable engagement.
Humor Creates Political In-Groups
- Humor in memes demarcates insiders from outsiders and helps normalize extreme ideas.
- The alt-right used the same ironic detachment to make people defend harmful positions as free speech.
Rage Bait Powers Engagement
- Government meme posts generate engagement even when they provoke outrage because all interactions count.
- Rage baiting turns negative reactions into measurable social media success.
