Chad Optics

About

Chad Optics is a phrase used by conservative Twitter user Paul Joseph Watson to describe President Donald Trump appearing to quickly recover from COVID-19. The term was mocked on Twitter for equating the President's health with the Chad meme and was mocked by being paired with pictures and clips of Trump appearing to be in poor health after he returned from the hospital.

Origin

On October 4th, 2020, while President Donald Trump was hospitalized after his COVID-19 diagnosis but was receiving good news about his prognosis, conservative Twitter user Paul Joseph Watson^[1] tweeted, "No one can deny the chad optics of Trump getting COVID and defeating it within 72 hours." The tweet gained over 4,700 retweets, 290 quote tweets, and 24,000 likes (shown below).

Spread

The tweet was quickly mocked online for its use of the phrase "Chad Optics." For example, user @Pat_Bren_Writer^[2] joked that Hitler shooting himself was "chad optics" (shown below, left). User @BBW_BFF^[3] tweeted, "wheeze-laughing at the cursed phrase 'chad optics,'" gaining over 25 retweets and 500 likes (shown below, right).

Others parodied the phrase by pairing it with recent images or clips appearing ill, particularly as he addressed reporters after his hospital visit at the White House. User @robrousseau^[4] used the phrase with a clip of Trump appearing to be gasping for air during the speech, gaining over 120 retweets and 2,800 likes (shown below, left). User @chainsleaze^[5] wrote, "the chad optics of slowly dying in public >>>>>>>" over a similar clip (shown below, right). The meme was covered by the Daily Dot.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References