# Thanks, Obama

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**Thanks, Obama** is an [Internet meme](/source/Internet_meme) both genuinely and [satirically](/source/Political_satire) used in regard to [policies](/source/Presidency_of_Barack_Obama) pursued by [Barack Obama](/source/Barack_Obama), the [President of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States) from 2009 to 2017.

## History

The saying first appeared in 2009 using the [hashtag](/source/Hashtag) *#thanksobama* in a [tweet](/source/Twitter) about President Obama's policies. Three months later, it was used in a [demotivational poster](/source/Motivational_poster#Parodies_and_demotivational_posters).[1]

Shortly after the [Republicans](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) gained control of the [House](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) in the [U.S. midterm election of 2010](/source/2010_United_States_elections), [liberals](/source/Liberalism_in_the_United_States) and [Democrats](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) repurposed the meme to blame Obama satirically for disparate societal or economic ills.[1][2] One notable[3] example came in 2012, when a picture of a man spilling food with the "Thanks Obama" caption was popular. In December 2012, the */r/thanksobama* [subreddit](/source/Reddit) was created.[4]

By 2015, it seemed the meme had run its course[1] after Obama used it in a [BuzzFeed](/source/BuzzFeed) video.[5] Obama himself revived it in 2016, using it to poke fun at his critics[6] and to thank a supporter who, during a speech, yelled out at and thanked him for $2 gas.[7]

On the January 19, 2017 episode of *[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert](/source/The_Late_Show_with_Stephen_Colbert)*, Obama's last full day in office, [Stephen Colbert](/source/Stephen_Colbert)'s [original conservative character](/source/Stephen_Colbert_(character)) from *[The Colbert Report](/source/The_Colbert_Report)* used the phrase to express gratitude to Obama for helping the Republican Party find a message of united opposition against him and succeed [electorally](/source/2016_United_States_presidential_election) again, only to later plead in fear for Obama to stay in office.[8]

In 2022, the Twitter account for President [Joe Biden](/source/Joe_Biden) (who had served as [vice president](/source/Vice_President_of_the_United_States) in the Obama administration) posted the phrase in response to a tweet by Obama acknowledging the passage of the [Inflation Reduction Act](/source/Inflation_Reduction_Act).[9]

## See also

- [Let's Go Brandon](/source/Let's_Go_Brandon) – slogan which similarly gained popular use through viral memes to criticize the [presidency of Joe Biden](/source/Presidency_of_Joe_Biden)
- [List of United States political catchphrases](/source/List_of_United_States_political_catchphrases)

## References

1. Schwarz, Hunter (February 13, 2015). ["'Thanks Obama.' The evolution of a meme that defined a presidency"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/02/13/thanks-obama-the-evolution-of-a-meme-that-defined-a-presidency/). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

1. Roberts, Dan (May 7, 2016). ["#ThanksObama: president's greatest legacy may be Trumping of the GOP"](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/07/barack-obama-presidency-donald-trump-republicans). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

1. u/Martholomule (November 2012). ["My family's reaction to the last four years \[OC\]"](https://www.reddit.com/r/reactiongifs/comments/12h3lg/my_familys_reaction_to_the_last_four_years_oc/). *[Reddit](/source/Reddit)*. Retrieved 2022-02-01.

1. ["Thanks, Obama"](https://www.dictionary.com/e/memes/thanks-obama/). *[Dictionary.com](/source/Dictionary.com)*. March 2018. Retrieved 2021-08-02.

1. Izade, Elahe (September 3, 2016). ["The most memorable comedy moments of the Obama presidency"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/the-most-memorable-comedy-moments-of-the-obama-presidency/2016/09/02/0c655342-6880-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

1. ["President cites 'Thanks Obama' to poke fun at critics"](http://abc7.com/news/president-cites-thanks-obama-to-poke-fun-at-critics/1242375/). [KABC-TV](/source/KABC-TV). March 11, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

1. ["Obama thanks himself for lower gas prices #ThanksObama"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/obama-thanks-himself-for-lower-gas-prices-thanksobama/2016/09/14/e2cdfc24-7a6c-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_video.html). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

1. Robinson, Will (January 20, 2017). ["Stephen Colbert's *Colbert Report* alter ego returns for Obama's last day"](http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/19/stephen-colbert-report-obama/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved September 4, 2017.

1. Snodgrass, Erin. ["Biden revives Obama-era meme to celebrate signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law"](https://www.businessinsider.com/thanks-obama-biden-revives-meme-to-celebrate-signing-ira-law-2022-8). *Business Insider*. Retrieved 2024-07-12.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thanks, Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanks%2C_Obama) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanks%2C_Obama?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.