Government Shutdown Messaging War Turns To Memes & Social Media
President Trump is leaning heavily on memes to express his frustration with Democrats over the government shutdown. Some Democrats — like California Gov. Gavin Newsom — are trying to fight fire with fire, while others are criticizing the move.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended the tactic Friday, saying memes highlight “the absurdity of the Democrats’ position,” but added that “at the end of the day, the decisions are hard ones” and not taken lightly.
It comes as Trump met with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Thursday to discuss potentially “thousands” of federal worker layoffs during the shutdown. So far, the White House has cut or frozen billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure and clean energy projects — mostly in Democratic-run cities and states.
“In a very polarized society, we have a rough consensus among Republicans and Democrats, that free speech is in a bad place… I think that’s a good thing in the sense that it’s a necessary, although not a sufficient, condition for making anything better. It’s a certain kind of agreement, and it’s one of the only things we do agree on,” Zimmerman said.
THE MEME WARS
On Thursday night, Trump posted an AI-generated parody of the classic song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” The video starred Vought — who has threatened imminent federal worker cuts — as the Grim Reaper. Trump himself appears playing cowbell, with Vice President JD Vance on the drums.
The clip was created by the Dilley Meme Team, a pro-Trump group that calls itself the president’s “online war machine.” Their content frequently goes viral and is often reposted by Trump.
The “Reaper” video wasn’t Trump’s first fighting meme of the week. On Monday, Trump shared an AI-generated clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wearing a sombrero, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) voice dubbed over with insults about Democrats.
Jeffries shot back: “Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video… say it to my face.”
Johnson advised Jeffries to ignore the trolling altogether. Vice President Vance brushed off the criticism, saying: “I think it’s funny.” Vance added that if Democrats “help reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop.” In turn, Newsom has posted videos of Johnson and Vance with Minion glasses and clothing, calling them “MAGA Minions.”
The meme strategy highlights how Trump is framing the funding battle — a cultural spectacle designed to cast Democrats as villains.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: SHUTDOWN EDITION
The historic 35-day shutdown in 2018–2019 was over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding. Around 380,000 federal workers were furloughed, another 420,000 worked without pay, and the standoff cost the economy billions. Similar impacts are going to be felt this shutdown. Last term, Trump ultimately caved, signing a bipartisan deal with no border wall funding.
This time, it’s Democrats drawing the line. They want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies – which they say help 22 million Americans afford health insurance – and roll back Medicaid cuts from Trump’s July tax-and-spending bill. Republicans insist they won’t negotiate until Democrats pass their funding measure first.
Nearly 80% of Americans want Congress to extend the enhanced tax credits, a new KFF poll finds. It remains to be seen how many Americans support a prolonged government shutdown on the issue.
Progressive leaders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), released a video on Wednesday explaining why they did not vote for the Republican spending bill that would have prevented the shutdown.
“There’s nothing clean about it,” Ocasio-Cortez said about the ‘clean’ Republican funding extension bill. “This is one of the dirtiest tricks that is being pulled on the American people right now.”
Democratic leaders face a tough balancing act in the shutdown fight: they are torn between demands from their base to fight the GOP, and establishment pressure to act as responsible governing partners. For now, they’re fighting — but it’s not necessarily connecting with the base, part of which sees Schumer as prosecuting the case poorly.
“Communication is not necessarily the strength of the Democratic Party’s leaders right now.” — Tommy Vietor, former Obama aide and Pod Save America co-host.