‘Just Found Out’: Georgia governor becomes latest online meme after COVID-19 blunder
Internet critics aren’t holding back in their ridicule of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over his response to the coronavirus outbreak, as infections and deaths continue to rise across the Peach State.
Kemp, who issued a shelter-in-place order for the state last week, has since found himself at the butt of internet jokes and memes poking fun at what some people say was his slow reaction to the disease.
Almost 10,000 people in Georgia have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 361 people have died as of Wednesday, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
During an April 1 press conference, the Republican governor said he only recently learned that asymptomatic people can still pass the illness to others — despite warnings from top health officials months before.
“Finding out this virus is now transmitting before people see signs, so what we’ve been telling people from directives from the CDC for weeks now that if you start feeling bad, stay home ... those individuals could’ve been infecting people before they ever felt bad,” Kemp told reporters last week upon announcing the statewide lock down.
He added that the new knowledge was a “game changer in his decision to issue the stay-at-home order.
Criticism was swift.
“Who the heck is advising Georgia’s Gov?” CBS News correspondent David Begnaud tweeted. “He says he only recently found out that ‘Those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad ...’ Dr. [Anthony] Fauci was talking about that two months ago.”
Rather than outright outrage, others have cracked jokes in response to the governor’s gaffe.
“Brian Kemp just found out who shot J.R.,” one Twitter user wrote.
Someone else joked, “Georgia governor Brian Kemp just found out that the sky is blue.”
With the jokes also came plenty of memes.
“I just found out the earth isn’t flat,” one image posted to Facebook read. “Folks, this is a game changer.”
Another meme was made to look like a breaking news headline that read: “Kemp discovers eating spinach doesn’t build Popeye muscles.”
“Did you know the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has an office right here in Atlanta?” read another. Several critics were also quick to point out that Kemp’s office is only a 15-minute drive from the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters.
On Wednesday, the governor announced he would extend Georgia’s state of emergency through mid-May, McClatchy News reported. Kemp also issued a shelter-in-place order that went into effect April 3 and is set to expire April 14.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 1:08 PM.