Thanks Obama

Thanks Obama is an internet meme first appearing in 2009 as a hashtag (#thanksobama) in a tweet about President Obama's policies.[1]

> WTF: U.S. considering national sales tax (ala VAT) #thanksobama.

> @hvlucas, tweeting 12 May 2009

## History

When the Republicans gained control of the House in the U.S. midterm election of 2010, the meme changed, no longer being used just by frustrated conservatives; a photo of a tired-looking Obama became the background for a meme that blamed Obama for all kinds of societal and economic ills.[1] During that time liberals took the meme up as well, in a satirical reversal.[2]

One notable example came in 2012, when a picture of a man spilling food with the "Thanks Obama" caption was popular. A subreddit was started as well.

By 2015 it seemed the meme had run its course[1] after Obama used it in a Buzzfeed video.[3] Obama himself revived it in 2016, using it to poke fun at his critics[4] and to thank a supporter who, during a speech, yelled out at and thanked him for $2 gas.[5]

On the January 19, 2017 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Obama's last day in office, Stephen Colbert's original conservative character from The Colbert Report used the phrase in a WERD segment to express gratitude to Obama for helping the Republican Party find a message of united opposition against him and succeed electorally again, only to later plead in fear for Obama to stay in office.[6]

## See also

* Political satire

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Schwarz, Hunter (13 February 2015). "‘Thanks Obama.’ The evolution of a meme that defined a presidency". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/02/13/thanks-obama-the-evolution-of-a-meme-that-defined-a-presidency/. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
2. ↑ Roberts, Dan (7 May 2016). "#ThanksObama: president's greatest legacy may be Trumping of the GOP". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/07/barack-obama-presidency-donald-trump-republicans. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
3. ↑ Izade, Elahe (3 September 2016). "The most memorable comedy moments of the Obama presidency". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/the-most-memorable-comedy-moments-of-the-obama-presidency/2016/09/02/0c655342-6880-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
4. ↑ "President's 'Thanks Obama' lets him have fun with critics". ABC7. 7 March 2016. http://abc7.com/news/president-cites-thanks-obama-to-poke-fun-at-critics/1242375/. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
5. ↑ "Obama thanks himself for lower gas prices #ThanksObama". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/obama-thanks-himself-for-lower-gas-prices-thanksobama/2016/09/14/e2cdfc24-7a6c-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_video.html. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
6. ↑ Robinson, Will (20 January 2017). "Stephen Colbert Says Thanks, Obama On President's Last Day". Entertainment Weekly. http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/19/stephen-colbert-report-obama/. Retrieved 4 September 2017.

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