The Brief: Council to Re-Open America memes parody the White House's selection of officials to oversee the "re-opening of America" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DEEP DIVE
On Monday, April 13, Fox News broadcast a list of the officials who have been selected for the White House’s “Council to Re-Open America,” which is set to include both President Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, but no health officials or doctors. This committee will presumably be in charge of jumpstarting the U.S. economy once it is safe to resume business. Almost immediately after this collection of officials was announced, Twitter users started mocking and parodying the White House’s selection and Trump’s apparent nepotism with Council to Re-Open America memes.
If someone asked me to write a parody of who would be on Trump's "Council to re-open America," I couldn't have come up with a list this good.
Trump put his daughter and son-in-law, who were elected to nothing, to lead the country out of the coronavirus outbreak? Beyond parody. pic.twitter.com/GQW0a43mCt
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) April 13, 2020
Many iterations of these memes add famous villains to the list, sometimes leaving Jared Kushner or Ivanka Trump on the roster to suggest that they’re already villain-like as is.
These "Council to Re-Open America" memes are cracking me up way more than they should.
I have to laugh because the reality is too dark to deal with.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/ph6Ch3mL83
— Jim Zub (@JimZub) April 13, 2020
BREAKING: White House unveils officials on "Council To Re-Open America" #NewsInPhoto #coronavirus #trump2020 pic.twitter.com/d2r8kaXKER
— The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) April 13, 2020
the committee to reopen america pic.twitter.com/ksULCOuRGt
— Quinn Slobodian (@zeithistoriker) April 13, 2020
Other Council to Re-Open America memes add blatantly unqualified fictional characters to the “council.”
I don’t see what all the controversy with the Council to Re-Open America is all about. They seem completely competent to me. Best group for the job. Beautiful group. pic.twitter.com/C7jwmZAqMg
— CHASE® チェイスヘイネス (@chasehaynes89) April 13, 2020
Some memes change “America” to something else to make fun of the idea of people or characters with obvious conflicting interests working to “re-open” an entity, like a “Council to Re-Open Jurassic Park” made-up solely of dinosaurs.
This took me way too long to make pic.twitter.com/cOtY9g7Xg6
— pat tobin (@tastefactory) April 13, 2020
Trump’s decision to include multiple family members on the council seems right out of Arrested Development…
Officials on the Council to Re-Open the Banana Stand pic.twitter.com/vH4ZmXQhRL
— Joshua Self-QuaRayntine (@joshuaray) April 13, 2020
The council to reopen America will be made up of old white men who have EVERYONES best interest at heart. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/kBo7EXerE6
— #TrumpChats (@TrumpChatting) April 13, 2020
Live look at first ever Council To Re-open America meeting. pic.twitter.com/HFSa088eXr
— Bettie Toxic (@bettietoxic) April 13, 2020
And, as with most things these days, there’s a Tiger King meme for that…