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The Week on Twitter | The Merrion, Biden Memes, & Ricky Martin

By Jade Hayden

This week, Joe Biden achieved peak meme status, a far right, anit-immigration party tried to launch in the Merrion, and Ricky Martin got engaged (yeah I know). Lots of people also went for a run in the dark.

‘National Party’ tries to launch in the Merrion, fails

On Tuesday it was reported that an anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-choice, anti-most things that aren’t white, middle class, and male political party were launching themselves in the Merrion hotel the following day.

The so-called National Party headed by Justin Barrett claims to represent all things anti-elite, recovery focused, and unification, while also being staunchly against refugees and migrants. In their press release they state that they’re dedicated to achieving “unity” across Ireland right before they say that pro-choice groups are thirsty for “blood lust” which, y’know, absolutely makes sense.

So the good people of Twitter did what the good people of Twitter do best – the took to the web and they asked exactly why the Merrion were playing host to the launch of a political party that promoted racism, misogyny and hate.

The Merrion responded simply – they weren’t. The event was cancelled, Barrett called the decision “frankly inexplicable,” and no doubt went off to find somewhere else to host his little gathering.

https://twitter.com/samtranum/status/798870125961244672

https://twitter.com/RebeccahLouise/status/798867320525520896

https://twitter.com/GreenClouds4/status/798888393463701504

#JoeBiden slams #MikePence via memes, compliments him IRL

Little good came out of last week’s Presidential election. In fact, nothing good came out of it. It was awful. But one thing that brought some light to the dark was Joe Biden’s ability to create hashtag Great Meme Content by basically existing.

Following Trump’s win, Twitter was awash with Biden memes primarily composed of Biden/Obama press shots where the two were either laughing, engaging in a very serious conversation, or hugging it out. The overarching theme of these memes was very simple – Joe Biden does not like Mike Pence. It was great. Everyone had a laugh, until they were promptly reminded of the impending doom the US is facing and went back to genuinely fearing for their safety, employment statuses, and future in America.

Then Biden ruined everything and said that he was confident that Pence would make a good VP and that all would go smoothly on Day 1. But hey, that’s politics.

https://twitter.com/pieceofjay/status/797187300723752960

#RickyMartin gon’ get hitched

Another vaguely good and nice thing that happened this week was that Ricky Martin was trending and he had not passed away suddenly like everybody else who trends without warning. Instead, Ricky was trending because he got engaged and also because he’s going on tour and people are excited by this because Ricky Martin is still pretty cool after all these years.

Ricky’s getting married to an artist named Jwan Yosef who he met over a mutual interest in conceptual art. This was announced on Wednesday on the Ellen Show where Ricky said lots of lovely things about his husband to be.

People took to Twitter to congratulate Ricky on his news. Many got confused and congratulated Apprentice winner also named Ricky Martin instead. He took it well.

https://twitter.com/RickyMartin247/status/798920406795096064

https://twitter.com/cakenblake/status/799442123284058112

Thousands take to the streets to #RunInTheDark 

Wednesday evening saw thousands of people all over the UK and Ireland go for a run in the dark. Streets in Dublin, Cork, Manchester and Edinburgh were filled with people running 5k and 10k lengths in aid of the Mark Pollock Trust. The charity has been aiming to find a cure for spinal cord injuries since 2010 when Mark Pollock fell from a window and suffered severe spinal injuries.

Run in the Dark organisers estimate that this year over 9,000 people ran in Dublin alone.

https://twitter.com/mary_white33/status/798992490917339137

https://twitter.com/TomFoxy/status/799010078992912384

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Jade Hayden 144 posts 0 comments

Jade Hayden has an MA in journalism, a degree in English, and a house rabbit who sleeps in her bed sometimes. You'll often find her wearing glasses, fixing her fringe, and complaining about the amount of time she spends on public transport. Jade is also the editor of HeadStuff's topical section, and she'd love if you sent your submissions over to [email protected].

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