Most viral political moments of 2024

It’s been a whirlwind year in the world of political news, and social media users were there to react to it all.

What started as a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was quickly uprooted with a last-minute switch on the Democratic ticket. But the change was no match for Trump, who went on to beat Vice President Kamala Harris decisively. In the early weeks of the presidential transition, he has wasted no time stacking his Cabinet with loyal advisors.

Of course, with political drama comes online discourse and memes. Here are some of the most viral moments in 2024 politics.

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Biden reacts to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s MAGA garb at SOTU

At Biden’s State of the Union address in March, one moment stuck out to internet users: his reaction to seeing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wearing a “Make American Great Again” hat.

While some accused Greene of breaking the House of Representatives rules on conduct and attire, most people got a good laugh out of the widely shared clip.

“Imagine getting cooked like this by the President of the United States, brutal,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

‘Bleach-blonde, bad built, butch body’ Reps spar on House floor

An argument erupted at the House Oversight Committee in May between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., when they were discussing the audio release of Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.

“Do you know what we’re here for?” Crockett asked Greene to which she replied, “I don’t think you know what you’re here for. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

Ocasio-Cortez stepped in to slam Greene for commenting on someone’s appearance. And Crockett had a viral comeback of her own:

“If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach-blonde, bad built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” Crockett said.

Previously: Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s viral ‘Bleach blonde bad built butch body’ trademark application filed

Candidates spiral into golf trash talk at disastrous debate for Biden

At the June Presidential debate, Biden and Trump went head to head in a much anticipated face-off that ultimately prompted the end of Biden’s re-election campaign.

In one of the several viral moments, the two veered off-topic and got competitive over golf.

After a question from moderator Dana Bash on their ages (Trump is 78 and Biden was 81 at the time), the two started challenging one another to a round of golf. They exchanged competitive jabs, bragged over handicaps and accused each other of acting like children.

“I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships. To do that, you have to be quite smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball along the way,” Trump said. “He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”

“By the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag,” Biden said to Trump. “Think you can do it?”

More: Top trending moments from Biden-Trump debate: Golf handicaps, age argument, a Biden freeze

‘Childless cat ladies’ were not a fan of VP-elect JD Vance

Vice President-elect JD Vance went viral several times throughout the campaign, including what many called an awkward doughnut shop visit and former comments on car seat rules. But one clip stayed with him throughout the campaign: the “childless cat ladies” clip.

Shortly after being named Trump’s running mate, an interview he gave on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in July 2021 was recirculated online.

“We are effectively run in this country … by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too,” Vance told Carlson. “It’s just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.”

It would go on to be widely referenced throughout the campaign, including in Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris.

‘Childless cat ladies’: A deeper look at JD Vance’s comments

‘Kamala IS brat,’ the coconut tree and Venn diagrams

When Harris took the over at the top of the Democratic ticket, her new campaign staffers were quick to lean into internet culture.

Charli XCX, a British singer whose album inspired “brat summer,” posted “kamala IS brat.” Suddenly, the KamalaHQ X account was branded in the signature “BRAT” lime green and font.

The profile bio stated “providing context,” a nod to a viral clip of Harris telling the coconut tree story.

“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” Harris said in a widely shared clip.

The campaign also didn’t shy away from the chatter about her loving Venn diagrams.

Who is the surprise guest at the DNC? No one.

A last-minute schedule change during the last night of the Democratic National Convention led to a frenzy of online speculation about who could be the special guest performer, but they were all wrong.

The internet had guessed:

• Australian breakdancer Raygun

• Dolly Parton, Simone Biles and a lone, screeching eagle

‘They’re eating the dogs…they’re eating the cats’

Unfounded rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating animals gripped the internet.

In the days leading up to the presidential debate between Trump and Harris, the rumor was popularized by apparent AI-generated images shared on social media showing Trump cuddling cats and ducks.

The rumor took on new life when Trump mentioned it at the debate, leading to turmoil for the town.

Meanwhile, TikTok users took his quote and made it into a dance remix.

More: Immigrants-eat-pets trope is a century-old stereotype and ‘very old racism’

Trump serves fries at McDonald’s

As Trump and Harris headed into the homestretch of the campaign, Trump went to McDonald’s in Pennsylvania and raised his unfounded claim that Harris never worked at the restaurant, though she says she did back in the 1980s to help pay for her college tuition.

“I’m looking for a job, and I always wanted to work at McDonald’s. I never did,” Trump said in a video posted on X. “I’m running against somebody that said she did but it turned out to be a totally phony story.”

With an apron over his usual dress shirt and red tie, he made an appearance working the fries and the drive-through window.

The footage went viral, and the campaign promptly turned it into a merchandise opportunity by selling “MAGADonald’s t-shirts.”

‘Two wizards bickering’: Nate Silver, Allan Lichtman go head-to-head on election predictions

As election anxiety sunk in for many Americans, polls and predictions took the spotlight. Two experts went head-to-head with their predictions, publicly sparring over their methodology.

Historian Allan Lichtman has a track record of accurately predicting elections, and Nate Silver is a famous pollster. Lichtman used his 13-keys method to predict that Harris would win the White House, while Silver’s data analysis showed Trump had a better chance of winning the Electoral College.

Silver questioned Lichtman on X: “At least 7 of the keys, maybe 8, clearly favor Trump. Sorry brother, but that’s what the keys say. Unless you’re admitting they’re totally arbitrary?”

Lichtman shot back: “He’s not a historian or a political scientist. He has no academic credentials. He was wrong when he said I could not make an early prediction of Obama‘s re-election (in 2010). He’ll be wrong again in trying to analyze the keys.”

The two continued sparring. But with Trump’s win, Lichtman had to explain why his 13 Keys model led him to the wrong conclusion.

But the drama was entertaining for some.

“If you don’t know what they’re talking about this whole exchange looks like two wizards bickering,” Capitol Forum reporter Paul McLeod commented.

Contributing: Mike Snider, Anthony Robledo, Taylor Ardrey, Emily DeLetter, Savannah Kuchar, Sudiksha Kochi

Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Most viral political moments 2024: Trump at McDonald’s, cat ladies