Overview
Laughing Joe Biden refers to the U.S. vice president Joe Biden’s constant laughing that became a popular subject of online mockeries during the 2012 United States vice presidential debate in October 2012.
Background
On October 12th, 2012, the vice presidential debate between the Democrat incumbent Joe Biden and Republican nominee Paul Ryan took place at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. In stark contrast to the first presidential debate, the candidates carried on a spirited exchange with an energetic presence and the moderator Martha Raddatz won praise for pressing both for more specific answers. Throughout the 90-minute session, Biden was repeatedly seen wearing a smirk on his face when it was Ryan’s turn to speak, which quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
Notable Developments
On Twitter
Within minutes into the debate, Twitter parody account @LaughingJoeBiden[1] was launched at 9:20pm (ET) with the first tweet reading “LOL”, immediately followed by another parody account @BidenSmirk[2] created at 9:21pm (ET) and the third account @LaughingBiden[3] at 9:50pm (ET).
lol
— Laughing Joe Biden (@LaughinJoeBiden) October 12, 2012
LMAO.#VPDebate
— Laughing Joe Biden (@LaughingJBiden) October 12, 2012
That matters, Martha. That matters. #BidenSmirk #VPdebate
— Joe Biden’s Smirk (@BidenSmirk) October 12, 2012
During the first hour alone, @LaughingJoeBiden gained nearly 5,000 followers and by the end of the 90 minute debate, the account had gained more than 8,000 followers. In addition, screenshots of Biden’s smirks began making the rounds with hashtags like #malarky, #laughingbiden and #bidensmirk.
Image Macros
By the end of the debate, image macros and photoshopped parodies had spread across Twitter[17] as well as on Reddit.[13][14][15]
News Media Coverage
The political blog Politico[4] was one of the first to write a story on Joe Biden’s smirk, highlighting a collection of tweets from political commentators and columnists. The trending topic was reported on by many U.S. news outlets and blog publications, from The New York Times[7], Washington Post[6] and CNN[5] to The Huffington Post[8], Mediate[9], and Gawker[11] with a wide range of opinions on Biden’s demeanor during the debate. The Associated Press[12] noted on the smirk by stating “Biden mockingly smiled, wagged his finger and couldn’t seem to stop interrupting Republican running mate Paul Ryan."
Republican Campaign Ad
In the early hours of the following day, the Republican National Committee released a YouTube campaign advertisement featuring a back-to-back montage of Joe Biden’s smirk sequences set to Paul Ryan’s speaking points from the debate. The video gained a quarter million views in the first 12 hours of upload.
Search Interest
[not available]
External References
[1] Twitter – @LaughingJoeBiden
[2] Twitter – @BidenSmirk
[3] Twitter – @LaughingBiden
[4] Politico – Twitter Frowns on Joe Biden’s Laugh
[5]CNN – The 25 funniest tweets about the VP debate
[6] Washington Post – Vice presidential debate: Biden’s smirk gets mixed reactions
[7] New York Times – Showing His Teeth, Biden Spurs Debate on His Performance
[8] Huffington Post – Joe Biden Laughing PHOTOS: The Best Of The Vice President’s Faces, Reactions In VP Debate
[9] Mediate – RNC Seizes On Biden’s Debate Laughing, Turns It Into An Ad
[10] Entertainment Weekly – Is ‘Laughing Joe Biden’ the Democrats’ ‘Big Bird’ moment?
[11] Gawker – One Nation Under Paul Ryan’s Bicep: The Gawker 2012 Vice Presidential Debate Liveblog
[12] Associated Press – With mocking smile and wagging finger, Biden walks line between aggressive and domineering
[13] Reddit – Joe Biden didn’t just win the debate. Joe Biden invented a new way to debate liars. | Eclectablog
[14] Reddit – This Just In: Joe Biden can’t stop thinking about a really funny joke he heard earlier today
[15] Reddit – Biden at the VP debate tonight
[16] Tumblr – Tagged results for Joe Biden
[17] Twitter – Search results for #Laughingbiden OR #Bidensmirk
[18] New York Magazine – Biden’s Constant Debate Laughter Was Either Delightful or Totally Disrespectful