The Hollywood Walk of Fame became the Source of Meme last week, when a Donald Trump fan cleaned his star on the gilded Los Angeles sidewalk, inspiring parodies with different things to be cleaned and the surfaces containing them.
On June 28, an Instagram user named Makenna Greenwald posted a photo of herself swabbing scribbles and scuffs from Trump’s star. Her comment “Stopped to clean @realDonaldTrump Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President. #RaisedRight.”
Not since “Call me Ahab” have so few words given interpreters so much to work with.
The post was retweeted more than 50,000 times, by the likes of Fox News host Sean Hannity and Trump’s son, Eric. Soon after, conservative critics could not leave well enough alone, posting photos of people treating Trump’s star less than deferentially, comparing them to Greenwald’s photo.
Stopped to clean @realDonaldTrump Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President. #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/jL4sqx4rlh
— Makenna (@makenna_mg) June 28, 2017
In response to someone spitting on and flipping the bird to Trump’s star, conservative critic Mike Cernovich commented, “Two Americas — which will you choose?”
When the textbook on Instagramming is written, this will be held up as that textbook’s example of “baiting.” Many users immediately began posting pictures of themselves cleaning their favorite stars’ stars, alongside the Donald Trump Hollywood star cleaner’s original caption.
“Stopped to clean his star. Nothing but respect for MY president. #raisedright” posted @davis_morgan14. Her president: Shrek. (She was not the only one.)
Stopped to clean his star. Nothing but respect for MY president. #raisedright pic.twitter.com/WkglogscVT
— md. (@davis_morgan14) July 3, 2017
Another’s was Meryl Streep.
Stopped to clean @MerylStreep Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President. #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/sqLsZ70bul
— jake stubbs (@jake__stubbs) July 1, 2017
Other items were incorporated. One man caressed a New York City manhole.
Stopped to clean their home. Nothing but respect for my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/cpXXvAzgTG
— Max Dylan Ash (@mynameisntdave) July 4, 2017
Predictably, a Trump sign and a dog surfaced.
This dog stopped to clean the president’s sign because he was obviously #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/Kcm88Qgzwg
— Alt Fed Employee (@Alt_FedEmployee) July 4, 2017
One woman cleaned a locker (perhaps of a student-government president?):
stopped by and cleaned Sharpay’s locker, nothing but respect for MY President #raisedright pic.twitter.com/U2VVqJ6CJ0
— Kermine (@deannas0807) July 5, 2017
Another swept her mom’s floor:
Stopped to clean the cheerios off of my kitchen floor. Nothing but respect for MY mom. #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/JoEuZKihGB
— Leanne (@lulushahin) July 3, 2017
And perhaps owning them all, one man stopped to polish the star of Martin Sheen, a.k.a. Progressive President Josiah Bartlet of “The West Wing.”
Stopped to clean his star. Nothing but respect for MY president. #RaisedRight ?? pic.twitter.com/zdwZPhZjCC
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) July 5, 2017
And someone paid tribute to Sheen’s son.
Look at this guys cleaning up our president’s hollywood star. #raisedright pic.twitter.com/FjPgXHs00F
— matt moore (@alexjones_son) July 3, 2017
To the extent that childhood education now must contain the ability to create dank memes, it’s clear that at least some kids are being #RaisedRight.
