“I am become meme,” declared Elon Musk at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, just after hoisting a chainsaw – a gift from Argentina’s president, Javier Milei – above his head. The tech billionaire and head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was correct. Within hours, images of the moment had spread across social media, spawning countless edits, humorous remixes and sharp commentary.
This moment was more than just a spectacle. It exemplified how, in a digital age where the battle for attention is paramount, memes are a key part of political conversation. While memes might seem purely entertaining, my research confirms their influence goes deeper, shaping and intensifying political views and attitudes in significant ways.
The power of memes lies in their ability to distil complex ideas into instantly recognisable forms. They rely on established visual templates, which eliminate the need for lengthy explanations and communicate to the viewer how they should think about the topic of the meme.
