The White House turns Jimothy the Raccoon into a MAGA meme
First, there was Harambe. Then Punch. Then Moo-Deng. Then Pesto. Now, there’s Jimothy the Raccoon, a new animal to scuttle into the internet’s heart after a video clip of him running through a Seattle suburb went viral on Instagram.
That video’s maker, 33-year-old marketing specialist Kiana Hall, picked the name Jimothy when posting said clip to social media and a brand new star was born. One that’s taken the entire world by storm in a matter of days, with everyone and their mothers embracing the distinctively shaped Trash Panda for their own ends.
He’s become a mural in his native Seattle. At least two people have gotten tattoos of him. He’s had a featured slot on The Daily Show. Dungeons and Dragons have added his statistics to D&D Beyond if you want him to guest in your campaign. NASA posted a photo of Seattle from space to their Instagram account, where the first line of the description is “Jimothy runs this city“.
He’s been added as a pet to World of Warcraft, as well as to Minecraft. According to their official spokesperson, he’s now ready to be found by intrepid explorers. Arguably the most high-profile of all is the little surprise you get if you type “Jimothy the Raccoon” into Google.
Do so, if you haven’t already, we need all the smiles we can get. Especially where we’re going with this article.
It hasn’t all been nerdy fun. A number of meme coins and crypto scams have popped up baring the name of Seattle’s newest alternative icon. Worst of all, President of the United States Donald Trump has jumped on the Jimothy the Raccoon bandwagon.
Trump, or a member of his social media team, posted an AI-generated image of the Raccoon. One that sees Jimothy wearing a “Trump Was Right About Everything” cap, the newest version of the red “Make America Great Again” caps that became so associated with the 45th and 47th president’s previous election campaigns.
This is surely just the start of the Jimothy movement. However, considering that he’s literally a wild animal, with no owner or zoo to make a profit from him, perhaps this movement will pass faster than the other viral animals of our time.
Something that can only be a good thing.