“OK Boomer” is the Pepe of 2020. Here’s Why.
The ubiquity of the term “OK Boomer” comes at a time of heightened generational contempt within the Democratic electorate of the United States. Similar to Pepe the Frog’s influence on the 2016 elections, the phrase may impact outcomes in 2020 and have real implications for social and political structure.
Pepe the Frog demonstrated the influence internet culture and memes can have on social and political sentiment offline in 2016, when then-candidate Donald Trump retweeted an image of himself depicted as the anthropomorphic cartoon frog with the slogan “Can’t Stump the Trump,” in effect endorsing the meme and the ideas it represented. In response, Hilary Clinton’s campaign posted an explainer, denouncing Pepe as a neo-Nazi and white nationalist symbol.
Pepe allowed a cohort of right-wing extremists to rally around a collective sentiment in 2016 that was legitimized and endorsed by Donald Trump. “OK Boomer” doesn’t have the same endorsement from prominent politicians that Trump gave Pepe, but the ability of young people to come together around the antiquated ideals that the meme effectively calls out can parallel 2016 events on the other side of the political spectrum.