President Donald Trump took to Facebook on Wednesday to deliver a bizarre 46-minute diatribe about how he believed the election was “rigged” and putting forward yet more unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
And while what the president called the “most important speech” of his four years in the White House was met with widespread scepticism and derision, eagle-eyed internet users realised that a moment when Mr Trump held up a white board – with charts about apparently irregular voting – presented them with an opportunity.
Soon after the video ended, Twitter users began sharing memes mocking him, both for the claims made in the address and for his love of using placards that are so easily manipulated.
Others took potshots at Mr Trump more generally, commenting on his electoral defeat and refusal to concede.
One person shared a meme that said “49 days”, a reference to how long Mr Trump has left in the White House until 20 January 2021, when president-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated.
Others memes showed President Trump holding a sign that said “Biden Wins”, “I concede”, “ I’m a LOSER”, “I lost”.
In an apparent reference to the vote recount request in several states including Georgia, and the Trump campaign’s fundraising efforts to pay for them, another meme said “I’m robbing my supporters right now. Shhhh, lol."
The president in his address had suggested a “revote” could be called if the US Supreme Court did “what’s right for our country”.
“Maybe you'll have a revote, but I don't think that’s appropriate. When those votes are corrupt, when they're irregular, when they get caught, they're terminated, and I very easily win,” Mr Trump had said.
The speech came a day after attorney general Bill Barr said the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations were “running down” claims of fraud that would potentially cover a “few thousand” votes, but not enough to have changed the outcome of the election.
Other memes were made in reference to imagined criminal proceedings that Mr Trump and his family might face after he steps down from the presidency.
These include criminal liability around his taxes, as well as the arrangement of hush-money, that Mr Trump’s former personal attorney said were paid on his behalf to the women that Mr Trump had extramarital affairs with before taking on the presidency. Mr Trump has denied the affairs.
It is the policy of the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
So although it's possible for a president to break the law before or during his time in office, prosecutors' inability to seek an indictment effectively means he can't be accused, tried or punished while still in office. That ends when he leaves the White House, however.
