{"id":27680,"date":"2025-06-03T11:10:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27680"},"modified":"2025-06-03T11:10:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:10:25","slug":"the-trump-meme-machine-uses-a-racist-frog-the-blues-brothers-a-conspiracy-group-and-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/06\/the-trump-meme-machine-uses-a-racist-frog-the-blues-brothers-a-conspiracy-group-and-god","title":{"rendered":"The Trump Meme Machine Uses a Racist Frog, the Blues Brothers, a Conspiracy Group and God"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FruitSnacks \/ Truth Social<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not a joke. Trust us.<\/span><\/p>\n

The marketing team behind the White House Office of Communications is no strangers to finding inspiration from pop culture to create a meme and, hopefully, another viral sensation. They did it again, and this time, <\/span>\u201cThey\u2019re on a mission from God.\u201d<\/p>\n

As posted on Truth Social, the clandestine president is walking the noir boulevard of Main Street, USA, under the all-caps phrase, followed by \u201cand nothing can stop what\u2019s coming.\u201d While this may appear to be in response to the \u201cLiberation Day Tariffs\u201d that were struck down by the U.S. Court of International Trade<\/a>, there are two things that stand out to many detractors and supporters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If that phrase hearkens back to the 1980s, it should.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the sentiment of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, <\/span>The Blues Brothers. <\/span><\/i>The two needed to raise money to keep the Roman Catholic orphanage where they were raised in Chicago from being foreclosed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They \u201cslid on down\u201d to the Triple Rock MBC to hear Reverend Cleophus James (played by the dazzling James Brown\u2026and yes, that\u2019s a young Chaka Khan in the choir). Inspired, they knew it was time to put the band back together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump has been making bold strides for the church in the name of anti-discriminatory action and pro-Christian organizations, such as <\/span>the Religious Liberty Commission<\/span><\/a>, this past February. He has stood tall for God in a way few\u2013if any\u2013presidents have in the past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While President Trump isn\u2019t putting a band back together for another Christian committee, he is reuniting with a questionable character in this meme that his team has an affinity for grouping\u2014<\/span>Pepe the Frog.<\/p>\n

Look closely to see the out-of-place frog standing on the curb in the left panel. While the meme is comical and the catchphrase is nostalgic, many have concerns about the frog, who isn\u2019t as cute as he appears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201csad frog meme,\u201d now known as Pepe, first appeared in 2005, saying \u201cFeels good, man\u201d in the digital cartoon \u201c<\/span>Boy\u2019s Club<\/span><\/a>.\u201d While not created as a mascot of hate, this is what Pepe has evolved into, as seen on 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) lists Pepe as <\/span>a tangible hate symbol<\/span><\/a>, linking it to white supremacists and anti-Semites. Boys Club creator Matt Furie has condemned Pepe to be used in hateful content, <\/span>but for some reason<\/span><\/a>, this sad frog has become a laughable figure of bigotry, and now he\u2019s in a meme with the President of the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even Donald Trump Jr. has used Pepe in <\/span>an Instagram post<\/span><\/a> dating back to 2015, which was a dig at former First Lady and Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton for calling the MAGA movement \u201cThe Deplorables.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The use of Pepe the Frog is alarming, but also the casual use of the phrase \u201cand nothing can stop what is coming.\u201d To the unlearned ear, there\u2019s nothing wrong with the rallying cry. However, it is also <\/span>a popular QAnon slogan<\/span><\/a> used to denote a prophetic judgment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the Body of Christ, there is reason to hold up a fist in revolt of the world coming against the Church. Yet, for people of prayer, there is also a reason to slow down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The President has regularly posted memes and video clips created by <\/span>QAnon conspiracists<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>far-right extremists<\/span><\/a>. With this post, he appears to have signed off on multiple messages that don\u2019t necessarily align with Christian principles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the collection of insights in this post, it\u2019s not a harmless attempt at humor on social media. Many believe it\u2019s a trend. Others think it\u2019s ignorance of what\u2019s being done around him. Whatever the situation, it\u2019s clear things aren\u2019t always as they seem.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not a joke. Trust us. The marketing team behind the White House Office of Communications is no strangers to finding inspiration from pop culture to create a meme and, hopefully, another viral sensation. They did it again, and this time, \u201cThey\u2019re on a mission from God.\u201d As posted on Truth Social, the clandestine president…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trump Meme Machine Uses a Racist Frog, the Blues Brothers, a Conspiracy Group and God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trump's latest meme channels "The Blues Brothers"\u2014but with a QAnon slogan and Pepe the Frog, sparking controversy over faith and extremism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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