Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto has become the butt of a wave of social media ridicule following a jokey complaint about the silence with which reporters greeted his announcement of a government investigation into allegations of corruption by his family and the finance minister.
Turning away from the microphone at the end of the announcement on Tuesday, Peña Nieto remarked “Ya se que no aplauden” or “I already knew they don’t clap.”
#YaSéQueNoAplauden, dice @EPN https://t.co/OZXWPWqjEE
— María Cabadas (@MariaCabadas) February 4, 2015
Within hours, #YaSeQueNoAplauden had become the top trending topic on Twitter in Mexico.
I live for the applause applause applause, I live for the applause plause... #YaSeQueNoAplauden pic.twitter.com/vlzwnYHkC8
— DJ KINDRA (@djKINDRA) February 4, 2015
“Do you still want us to applaud you for doing your job?” asked one tweet.
Ay, @epn ¿Todavía quieres que te aplaudan por hacer tu trabajo? #Yaséquenoaplauden pic.twitter.com/nZ3WeCPLtl
— ♔ María Santísima ♔ (@VirgenMaria) February 3, 2015
Other tweets mocked the applause the president usually receives in speeches made to handpicked audiences of loyal supporters.
#SpanglishMasta Define: Eggslickers #YaSeQueNoAplauden pic.twitter.com/AHFl0qbshq
— Compa José (@rhetoricMX) February 4, 2015
“How I’ve missed you – fucking arse-lickers,” read one.
Others tore into the idea that the federal auditor Peña Nieto appointed on Tuesday, and who he charged with heading the probe, could possibly have the independence required to bring down his boss, if wrongdoing is found.
One much retweeted cartoon shows Peña Nieto with a puppet of the auditor, Virgilio Andrade, on one hand and the words, “I want you to investigate what the other hand has done.”
El chiste se cuenta sólo! @PedroFerriz pic.twitter.com/MglyqqW8Lq
— laura a. (@alonsera) February 4, 2015
The reaction echoes the twitter frenzy around Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam’s remark of “Ya me canse,” or “I’ve had enough,” used to curtail a November press conference on the government’s investigation into the fate of 43 student teachers who disappeared after they were attacked by police in September.
#YaMeCanse was Mexico’s top trending topic for weeks, and became a common slogan on banners during massive demonstrations demanding that the government do more to find the students.
The emergence of #YaSeQueNoAplauden has similarly tapped into the widespread sense that the Peña Nieto administration is not taking seriously the credibility crisis it faces.
One popular meme combined the two slogans, showing the attorney general lying on a couch with a TV remote on his belly and the words “I would applaud, but I’ve had enough.”
Making fun of our president is now a national sport. Yay! #YaSeQueNoAplauden http://t.co/K2sUFUQZvB via @CNET_Es pic.twitter.com/yUUnovCvB1
— Laura Martínez ® (@miblogestublog) February 4, 2015
Another showed a bloodstained map of Mexico impaled with a carving knife, and the words “I’d applaud but I don’t have the strength.”
#YaSeQueNoAplauden #EPN #Mexico #Ayotzinapa #presidente #EstadoFallido #DespiertaMexico pic.twitter.com/XszIWeFUBW
— Tokin Mexico (@TokinMx_) February 4, 2015
Another used a picture of a disappointed-looking shark from Katy Perry’s Super Bowl half-time show, saying: “I know they didn’t applaud.”
La cara de EPN cuando nadie le aplaude al terminar su discurso. #YaSeQueNoAplauden pic.twitter.com/OawHe9bR1t
— Li Clou (@ElDeCreativo) February 3, 2015
The conflict of interest allegations arose in November when the news website aristeguinoticias.com revealed the existence of a Mexico City mansion specially built for the presidential family by a construction company, called Grupo Higa, which has benefitted from numerous government contracts.
The Wall Street Journal later uncovered that Finance Minister Luis Videgaray had also purchased a large weekend home from Grupo Higa through a private negotiated credit with the company, later revealed to be at well below market rates. Peña Nieto, his wife, the former soap opera star Angelica Rivera, and Videgaray have all denied any wrongdoing.
During Tuesday’s announcement, which also included the promise of other anti-corruption measures, the president said: “I am aware that the allegations have generated the appearance that something improper happened, although, in reality, it did not.”
One cartoon showed an image the new auditor Andrade as he takes the oath of office, with the president asking “Do you swear to uphold my conflicts of interests and the houses that emanate from them?”
“Yes sir!” replies Andrade.
Resumen del mensaje de @EPN #YaSeQueNoAplauden #RetrasadoComoEPN pic.twitter.com/bGwvQHYOmi
— Másde131ITESO (@Masde131ITESO) February 4, 2015
