About

Dr. Fauci's Facepalm refers to a viral clip of Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, facepalming during a Whitehouse press briefing regarding the Coronavirus Outbreak in March 2020. Though Fauci claimed he made the gesture because a lozenge was stuck in his throat, many on Twitter believe he either did it to hold back laughter or did it out of frustration.

Origin

On March 20th, 2020, Twitter user @Walldo uploaded a clip of the Whitehouse press conference with the caption, "Note Fauci’s reaction when Trump makes a deep state joke at the podium" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 8,900 likes and 2,900 retweets in five days.

Spread

On March 20th, 2020, Twitter user @ed_solomon^[1] retweeted the clip adding the caption, "Does a face palm count as touching your face?" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 1,200 likes and 180 retweets in five days. That same day, Twitter user @marklewismd^[2] tweeted, "Please stop making Dr Fauci facepalm. America needs him as healthy as possible" (shown below, right). The tweet received over 280 likes in five days.

Later that day, Twitter user @miblogestublog tweeted the clip and said, "Dr. Fauci is all of us 🤦🏼‍♂️" which gained over 37,600 likes and 9,400 retweets in five days (shown below). President Donald Trump retweeted it a few days later. The NY Times^[5] reported that Fauci made the gesture to hide his concern over a lozenge stuck in his throat. Distractify^[3] and Business Insider^[4] also published articles on the gesture.

Various Examples

Curb Your Enthusiasm – The Facepalm 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/bUrhlkzdQH

— Brett Meiselas (@BMeiselas) March 20, 2020

Fauci’s facepalm, while listening to Trump spew his bullshit, will go down in history as one act that can describe Trump’s entire response to this pandemic. pic.twitter.com/IuXts8NHDs

— LiA (@LibsInAmerica) March 20, 2020

Search Interest

External References