George H.W. Bush Holding A Baseball

About

George H.W. Bush Holding A Baseball is a viral video from a moment during the 2017 World Series in which former President George H.W. Bush was involved in the first pitch ceremony in Houston, Texas. Bush, 94 at the time, was in a wheelchair as he held out a baseball to give to his son, George W. Bush, to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The clip of Bush, mouth open while lifting the baseball, has been used as a reaction GIF and format for caption memes online.

Origin

On October 29th, 2017, George H.W. Bush was involved in the first pitch ceremony during game three of the Major League Baseball World Series.^[1] Bush, 94, wearing an Astros jacket and in a wheelchair, handed a baseball off to his son George W. Bush, who threw the ceremonial first pitch.

Memes of the moment in which George H.W. Bush held up a baseball began appearing online that night. One of the most viral early examples was posted by Twitter user @Steve_Perrault,^[2] who tweeted the clip with the caption, "When people ask me what my interests are," gaining over 15,000 retweets and 41,000 likes in seven years.

Spread

Over the following several years, the clip of George Bush holding up the baseball was used as a meme, typically as a reaction clip. On TikTok, the clip saw use in object-labeling memes, particularly in 2023.

For instance, on May 19th, 2023, TikToker papiblackbeard^[6] used it in a meme about being drunk on vacation, gaining over 53,000 views in one year.

On May 26th, 2023, the account brbetting^[4] used the clip to joke about going to a casino late at night, gaining over 79,000 likes in over one year.

On June 8th, TikToker ohnoitsjoe1989^[5] posted a joke about using "It Is What It Is," gaining over 18,000 likes in a similar timeframe.

On June 15th, 2023, TikToker coleclark49^[3] used the clip for a joke about the Console Wars that gained over 1.9 million views and 239,000 likes in one year.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References