The Week on TwitterTopical

The Week on Twitter | General Election, James Comey, & The Babadook

By Jade Hayden

This week, Jeremy Corbyn was the absolute boy, Theresa May went into talks with the DUP, and the Tories lost a load of seats. Ariana Grande also held a benefit concert in Manchester, former FBI director James Comey gave a testimony, & the Babadook became an LGBT icon.

Surge in young #Labour voters, and massive loses for #Tories in #GE2017

On Thursday night at 10pm, the exit poll for the UK general election was released. It suggested that the Conservatives had secured more seats, but that Labour’s surge in support would leave Britain with a hung parliament. Many Tories denied the poll’s accuracy, saying that everyone should wait until the vote counting actually began before jumping to conclusions.

Once the counting did begin however, it became clearer and clearer that the Tories were not going to achieve the majority necessary to lead alone. By 5am it was looking fairly likely that the UK was going to have a hung parliament propped up by the DUP, the unionist party who don’t believe in climate change, LGBT rights, abortion under any circumstances, and lots of other awful and questionable things.

Despite Theresa May’s claim that if the Tories lost just six seats, Jeremy Corbyn would be sitting down with the EU to discuss Brexit negotiations, the prime minister is still refusing to step down. Instead she’s relying on the democratic unionists to let her lead for a little while longer, already having reportedly considered a vote on limiting abortion access for the rest of the UK.

Some other things also happened during #GE2017 that weren’t so grim, maybe. Labour managed to win over 40% of the vote despite constant smear campaigns by the press amidst claims that Corbyn didn’t know how to run a party. UKIP leader Paul Nuttall stepped down after his party won zero seats. He said that UKIP had become a victim of its own success, and blamed the snap election for their loss in support. The Britain Elects Twitter page sent a tweet saying ‘Holy shit’ once the exit poll was released. It was good.

Oh, and Kev from IT finally got his chance at leadership.

#Comey testimony gets underway

This week, former FBI director James Comey gave his testimony regarding his dismissal by Trump. Comey says that he was fired in May because he leaked information concerning the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s potential involvement in the US election campaign. Trump had previously claimed that he fired the FBI director to “ease” the investigation against him.

Comey spoke publicly for the first time about his dismissal to the senate intelligence committee on Thursday. He stated (three times) that Trump was a liar, that he had documented multiple conversations that he had had with Trump, and that he hopes tapes of these conversations do exist.

Comey also claimed that Trump had told him to stop looking into the actions of former national security advisor Michael Flynn. “I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took in,” he said. “I remember saying, ‘I agree he is a good guy,’ as a way of saying, ‘I’m not agreeing with what you asked me to do.'”

#ArianaGrande holds benefit concert for #ManchesterAttack victims

On Sunday, just 13 days after the terrorist attack that tragically killed 22 people in the MEN arena, Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester concert came to Old Trafford. Performances from Robbie Williams, Coldplay, (some of) Oasis, Imogen Heap, Little Mix, Miley Cyrus, and Ariana herself lit up the stage for the thousands of people who had attended the original concert less than two weeks before, and all of those who didn’t make it home that night.

Ariana joined the Black Eyed Peas for Where Is The Love?, she and Miley sang a rendition of Don’t Dream It’s Over, and Justin Bieber performed a few of his hits for the 50,000 or so people who turned out to support the cause.

Over £2.5 million was raised during the course of the evening, which was then added to the £12 million that had already been raised in support of the bombing victims. Ariana ended the show singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The song has now been released as a charity single.

https://twitter.com/WillTooley/status/871460454840905728

#TheBabadook becomes LGBT icon

The B in LGBT stands for Babadook. At least that’s according to lots of people on Twitter, who have decided that the monster from the 2014 film of the same name has been a key figure in the fight for gay rights for years. The Babadook has been on RuPaul’s Drag Race. He’s made viewers Badashook with his looks. He was even around for the Stonewall riots.

The Babadook’s affirmation as an LGBT icon came after the film showed up in Netflix’s LGBT section. Someone made the joke that the B in LGBT stood for Babadook. The memes began. They have yet to stop.

https://twitter.com/Maccadaynu/status/872495700034158592

Featured image source

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].

You might also like More from author