2025 Is Off To Quite A Tumultuous Start In The Meme World

Author

Know Your Meme Team
January 27, 2025

This week, a VTuber took on crypto scammers, a famous Family Guy scene got some official lore and CEO names were finally revealed.

Elon Musk "Sieg Heil" Salute at Donald Trump Inauguration, also known as the Elon Musk Nazi Salute, refers to a moment during a rally held after the 2025 U.S. Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump where Elon Musk performed a gesture in which he placed his hand over his heart and then extended his arm outward with his hand flat before turning around and repeating it toward the American flag. Many interpreted the gesture as a "Sieg Heil" salute, infamously used by the German Nazi Party to salute Adolf Hitler. Others attributed the gesture as related to his line, "My heart goes out to you," which he stated immediately afterward, inferring that he meant to signal giving his heart to the audience. Those who perceived it as a Nazi salute sparked viral discourse and memes on social media sites like Twitter / X after the video went viral shortly after. Many people jokingly debated whether Musk was autistic, a Nazi or both. Some believed that Musk was doing a "Roman" salute, often referred to as a "Fascist" salute, which is the original gesture that the German Nazi Party adopted.

GoonerGate, also known as Gooner Gate or Goonergate Censorship, refers to a controversy in the gaming community sparked by content creators advocating for religious values regarding character design and content in video games, notably referencing the slang term "gooner." The controversy started in early December 2024 when YouTuber SicklyTheNinJa expressed his discontent via X / Twitter over the excess of lewd fan service in the design of the protagonist from The First Descendant game, which ignited a wider debate about the boundaries of artistic expression in gaming. The debate resurfaced in mid-January 2025 when YouTuber and Twitch streamer Melonie Mac posted a video addressing the GoonerGate backlash she claims to have received for being a "Christian content creator" advocating against "the queer stuff" and "perverts" gamers.

#DarkWoke, also known as Dark Woke, is a joke hashtag and slang term that started on X / Twitter in January 2025. After Donald Trump was reelected as the 47th President of the United States, many anti-conservative internet users began sharing memes and jokes about being "Dark Woke," espousing violence, taking glee in the misfortune of conservatives negatively affected by Trump's policies and breaking away from liberal ideas about civility. The hashtag "#DarkWoke" began trending online after Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) posted a tweet asking Libs of TikTok, "Oh, are you triggered?" leading X user @ProgDirectorate to tweet, "proto-#DarkWoke […] who will the first democrat to call republicans retarded be?" The phrasing "Dark Woke" is potentially inspired by jokes about Dark Brandon.

YouTuber Onision made a living off controversial content stemming back to the early days of YouTube. Now, five years after he was exposed by To Catch A Predator's Chris Hansen, he's trying to make a comeback online.

Upcoming Meme-a-versaries

Here are this week's birthday memes celebrating their anniversaries from the storied halls of meme and internet history:

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