President Trump 's now-infamous 'dad dance' has taken the internet by storm, with people setting his odd swaying to different s...
President Trump's now-infamous 'dad dance' has taken the internet by storm, with people setting his odd swaying to different songs in a hilarious new meme.
Trump, a man who is famously particular about his appearance, is fully embracing doing a dad dance to the Village People's 'YMCA' as the finale to his rallies in the campaign's closing stretch.
He starts with the arms, clenched fists pumping back and forth — sometimes to the beat — as though he's on an elliptical trainer. He claps. He waves. And then he starts to bop his head and move his knees.
President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on Wednesday
On some nights, he sticks mostly to pointing and clapping. But on others, he lurches from side to side and jerks his body as the crowd cheers.
And now, his stilted dancing has become the latest social media meme.
In one video shared to Twitter, Trump is seen swinging his arms to the beat of a remixed 'Baby Shark.'
'Baby Trump, doo doo, doo doo doo doo,' the song goes.
People shared footage of President Trump's dancing and paired it with hilarious song choices
One woman paired Trump's dancing to TV theme songs, including Thomas the Tank Engine and DuckTales
Other Twitter users paired Trump's dance moves to children's TV theme songs, including Thomas the Tank Engine and DuckTales.
GOP Strategist Caleb Hull took part in the meme as well, saying 'I added Fleetwood Mac to Trump's dancing at his rally just now.'
Journalist James Felton posted one version of the meme to his Twitter, featuring Trump shimmying to Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida,' and asked 'is this a symptom?'
Journalist James Felton jokingly asked if Trump's 'dad dance' was a symptom of his COVID-19 diagnosis
GOP strategist Caleb Hull wrote on Twitter: 'I added Fleetwood Mac to Trump's dancing at his rally just now'
Fetlton was referring to Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis that shook Capitol Hill. He announced his positive test results on October 2 and has since been cleared by his physicians.
One woman merged the footage of Trump's dancing to 'We No Speak Americano,' by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP.
The social media meme sparked after President Trump began dancing to 'YMCA' during campaign rallies this year
Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump poked fun at husband Jared Kushner's 'party foul' over the weekend after he opted out of performing the 'YMCA' dance with a crowd of MAGA supporters.
Kushner was among President Trump's staffers who gathered at his back-to-back rallies Saturday in Muskegon, Michigan and Janesville, Wisconsin, which attracted thousands of supporters.
Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, was spotted in front of Kushner, while adviser Dan Scavino stood to his left.
Footage shared by DailyMail.com reporter Nikki Schwab shows Kushner, assistant to the president and senior adviser, standing next to the rally as the song plays.
Two staffers and the crowd excitedly mimic the iconic dance, but Kushner simply claps along to the rhythm.
Backstage at campaign rallies, top staff and campaign aides often join in with the more traditional take, using their bodies to spell out Y-M-C-A to the strains of the cheesy '70s anthem.
Trump's rally dance has become a rare moment of levity in an otherwise miserable campaign year marked by a deadly pandemic, an economic recession and racial turmoil. And while Trump has largely been shunned by pop culture, the dance has spawned a viral TikTok video challenge (even though he's threatened to ban the site in the U.S.) and a parody on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.'
'Do you want to shake your groove thing but don't know the steps? Then order 'Dancing with The Don' and let President Trump teach you all the hottest moves!' Colbert's show advertised in a parody infomercial.
Trump's campaign staff and family members have also been promoting clips and copycats as the president trails in most national polls and in many battleground states just two weeks out from Election Day.
'Love it!' the president's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, wrote as she retweeted a video posted by a young woman replicating the president's moves.
When a reporter tweeted a video showing some of Trump's campaign aides dancing along — but not Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, a top White House adviser — Ivanka tweeted back: 'Party Foul!'
President Donald Trump dances while leaving after speaking at a Make America Great Again rally at Ocala International Airport in Macon, Georgia on October 16, 2020.
Added Trump senior adviser Steve Cortes: 'President Beast Mode can boogie...'
The efforts to make the dance 'a thing' come as the president has been trying to demonstrate his vigor after returning to the campaign trail following his infection with the coronavirus, which put him in the hospital for three nights.
It has drawn a scowl from others, including CNN's Don Lemon, who criticized Trump for dancing to the song during a pandemic that has killed so many.
'That can't be taken away no matter how many times he goes to rallies and dances to the Village People,' Lemon said. 'He is having fun and dancing on the graves of 215,000 Americans. Dancing.'
'YMCA,' widely considered a gay anthem, is a relatively new addition to Trump's rally playlist. It was swapped in this year after the Rolling Stones threatened in June to sue if Trump didn't stop using their song 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' as his rally closer.
Trump's eclectic rally soundtrack — an integral part of the events — has sparked numerous threats of legal action, along with group sing-alongs, crowd dance sessions, confused stares and even boos.
President Donald Trump dances to the music as he departs at the end of a campaign rally in Carson City, Nevada,
In the early days, the list was heavy on the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith (until they also threatened legal action), along with Trump favorites like Adele (until she objected) and the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti's 'Nessun Dorma' (until his wife objected, too.)
Throughout much of 2016, the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync were rally staples, as have been ballads from Broadway musicals including 'The Phantom of the Opera,' 'Cats,' and 'Les Misérables.'
'Macho Man,' also by the Village People, is another recent add.
The Village People have said they are OK with Trump's use of their songs.
'Since our music is not being used for a specific endorsement, the President's use is 'perfect(ly)' legal,' they wrote on Facebook in February. 'Like millions of Village People fans worldwide, the President and his supporters have shown a genuine like for our music. Our music is all-inclusive and certainly everyone is entitled to do the YMCA dance, regardless of their political affiliation.'
'Having said that,' they added, 'we certainly don't endorse his use as we'd prefer our music be kept out of politics.'
Trump's campaign declined to say who had the idea to use 'YMCA' as his closing song — though members of his traveling entourage have jokingly tried to take credit.
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller agreed to reveal the secret to an AP reporter 'only if we first get a clip of you singing YMCA.'
AP's Jill Colvin declined.
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