Like many politics reporters, Jared Yates Sexton has spent the last year tirelessly working to uncover evidence of Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
So when Donald Trump Jr. tweeted emails that prove he met with Russians specifically to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, Sexton was dumfounded.
I…worked on this story for a year…and…he just…he tweeted it out.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
Completely baffled that the president’s son simply tweeted out “the smoking gun,” he went on a tweetstorm.
Like. I spent hours and days and weeks and months. And his son just, hit tweet.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
I tracked down sources. Followed so many dead leads. Labored over this. And then, he just, you know, tweeted out the proof.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
I'm not entirely convinced I'm not having a break from reality.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
For the record, I'm beside myself in relief that this stuff is out there it's just…my god. I cannot believe this.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
Like, so many people out there were trying to track this down. And it just…got delivered on a tweet. What the hell.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
Hey. I'm good. I feel great. I'm just…absolutely baffled at the moment.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
All of his tweets on the subject (there were a bunch more) gained a ton of attention—Stephen Colbert even did an entire segment about the first few on his show.
But the first tweet spread the furthest by far, a now that tweet has become a meme as well. People on Twitter—specifically reporters—have been quote tweeting satirical, branded and particularly funny or mundane news stories and tweets with Sexton’s viral comment.
Finally—this saga was really due for another meme to help us laugh away the pain.