15 viral moments from presidential campaigns since the dawn of social media

When asked during an interview with Katie Couric in 2008 what magazines and newspapers she reads regularly, Sarah Palin fumbled the question. She responded, "I read most of them, again, with a great appreciation for the press for the media."

When asked for more specifics, she failed to name a single news outlet and said, "All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years."

The video went viral and "SNL" famously poked fun at the interview. Tina Fey nailed her impersonation of the Alaskan governor during a mock interview with Amy Poehler playing Couric — she repeated Palin's response word for word. The sketch made the viral video even more viral, and Fey's impersonation of Palin became one of her most iconic.

In this fictional video, David Morgasen, its writer and director, used now-outdated technology to paste the faces of Barack Obama and John McCain on breakdancers engaging in a presidential dance-off. The video, which was published during the 2008 presidential election, earned over 12 million views.

When Anheuser-Busch released its original "Wassup" commercial in 2000, it became an instant hit. Eight years later, the company dropped an updated version ahead of the 2008 election.

The 2008 version featured the same five friends but it was set in a much gloomier world — one friend was unemployed and lost his house; another was a soldier in Iraq; one tried to take his life when his stocks took a dive; one was injured; the fifth was outside in what looked like a hurricane.

At the end of the video, the soldier asked his friend, "What's up B?" The camera switched to his friend's TV, showing a Barack Obama rally. His friend smiled, responding, "Change," making clear the company's criticism of George W. Bush's presidency and its endorsement of Obama.

During an appearance at the 2012 Republican National Convention as the event's "mystery guest," Clint Eastwood delivered a peculiar speech. He turned to the empty chair next to him and started to make political jabs toward an invisible President Barack Obama over issues like the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and failing to close the prison at Guantanamo.

The moment quickly went viral on Twitter and inspired #Eastwooding and the profile @invisibleobama. Obama quipped back with a picture of him sitting in the president's chair with the caption, "This seat's taken."

In a 2016 Washington Post interview, Eastwood said he regretted the speech. When asked what troubled him most in life, he responded, "I guess when I did that silly thing at the Republican convention, talking to the chair."

While talking about infrastructure during a speech in Virginia in 2012, President Barack Obama began talking about how success is a collaborative effort and that nobody is entirely self-made, eventually saying, "You didn't build that."

Obama's comment, which was in reference to government-funded roads and businesses, went viral and Republicans quickly adopted the remark and turned it into "We Built It," which became the slogan of the 2012 Republican National Convention, according to CNN.

During a presidential debate in 2012, Republican candidate Mitt Romney said he would cut federal funding to PBS. According to Politico, Romney told PBS anchor and moderator Jim Lehrer, "I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. Actually, I like you too. But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for us."

Politicians and fans of the channel quickly took to Twitter to go to bat for PBS. The hashtag #firedBigBird started trending, as well as photos of a sad Big Bird holding up signs asking for food and a job. Soon after, Big Bird appeared on "SNL."

The viral remark came in response to a question about what each candidate would do to rectify inequalities in the workplace, especially the pay gap between men and women. Romney responded that, while assembling a cabinet as governor of Utah, he was dissatisfied with the all-male applicants who applied for the job, so he had a group provide him with "binders full of women" applicants.

The comment inspired Twitter accounts, memes, and was a popular Halloween costume that year. In 2017 the story was trending again after the Boston Globe acquired the two binders full of resumes and cover letters, which together weighed over 15 pounds.

Trump and the cast's goofy rendition of the hit song entertained viewers and inspired countless gifs.

Despite appearances, in a 2017 interview with Time, former SNL cast member Taran Killam said, "I didn't get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides."

The episode drew the show's best ratings in years.

During a presidential debate in September 2016, Hillary Clinton pulled off a dance move that instantly became immortalized online through gifs, memes, and song. After Trump attacked Clinton for her judgment and temper, Clinton said, "Whoo, OK" then shimmied her shoulders — the internet took care of the rest.

Trump also earned his fair share of internet fame as Twitter users pointed out his constant sniffling while speaking. Parody Twitter accounts and a slew of tweets quickly followed.

At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton made history by becoming the first-ever female presidential candidate endorsed by a major party. At the end of the event, an avalanche of balloons dropped onto the stage and the resulting pictures were seized upon by the internet.

Bill looked like an eager young lad while chasing after the balloons and Hillary's expressions were deemed meme-worthy. The pictures of the Clintons inspired plenty of gifs.

Attempting to dismiss any rumors that his hair wasn't real, Donald Trump let Jimmy Fallon mess up his hair during an appearance on "The Tonight Show." The video immediately earned attention online and from national news outlets.

After the episode aired, Fallon received harsh blowback for the segment and Trump attacked Fallon on Twitter for messing up his hair, even though Fallon said he asked for and received permission to do so.

Arguably the most viral moment of the entire 2016 election, Ken Bone (and his red sweater) became an instant internet sensation after asking the candidates to discuss their energy policies during the second 2016 presidential debate.

As soon as he asked his question, Bone started trending on Twitter, and in the days that followed, he appeared on numerous cable news stations to talk about his internet fame and notorious red sweater. Soon there was merch; Bone starred in an ad for Izod, the maker of his iconic red sweater; and the media sweetheart started receiving fan mail.

The New Yorker recently released a mini-documentary on the highs and lows of Ken Bone's fame during the 2016 election.

In a speech from the 13-year-old's home being broadcast to the virtual Democratic National Convention in August, Brayden Harrington said that an encounter with Biden at a CNN town hall in February changed his outlook on his stutter. Biden opened up to Harrington about how he overcame his stutter and offered some tools to help Harrington, who struggles with the letter "s," with his own pronunciation.

During the first 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, it didn't take long for things to get chaotic. Moderator Chris Wallace couldn't keep the pair from interrupting each other and in general, the debate seemed somewhat unaccomplished in regards to digging deeper into their plans for the next four years.

Memers jumped on nearly everything the two candidates said, producing memes comparing the two to "The Real Housewives" series, making fun of Joe Biden's mask size, pinning the two against each other with the classic pointing Spider-Man meme, and so, so much more.

For about two minutes during his debate with Kamala Harris earlier this month, a fly landed on Vice President Mike Pence's head. During the entire episode, Pence seemed oblivious of his tiny winged visitor.

The incident sparked a wide range of discourse on Twitter, countless memes, and this ingenious costume from Steve Martin.

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