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Here Are Some of the Artistic Memes From the Third Presidential Debate That Made Us Laugh
From a Trump presidency "starter kit" to a helpful Artemisia Gentileschi riff.
![Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures to the crowd as she walks off stage as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump smiles after the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tonight is the final debate ahead of Election Day on November 8. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures to the crowd as she walks off stage as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump smiles after the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tonight is the final debate ahead of Election Day on November 8. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.](https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2016/10/trump-clinton-final-debate-e1477313563283.jpg)
From a Trump presidency "starter kit" to a helpful Artemisia Gentileschi riff.
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Last night’s third presidential debate was no joke. Headlines afterwards dwelled on Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping assertion that he might not recognize Clinton’s legitimacy in the increasingly probable event that she becomes the 45th president of the United States. There were plenty of meme-worthy moments aplenty, though, from the hour-and-half hurly burly. Here’s a window to a few of the artsy ones.
Artist, writer, and curator Willa Köerner, taking a deep breath beforehand:
Before the debate ruins twitter, here's a nice picture of a sunset I saw earlier. pic.twitter.com/pTK5SB0boL
— Willa Köerner ☄ (@willak) October 20, 2016
Painter Wendy White expressing her solidarity with a portrait:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLw-8EOBzLr/
And getting a rather less conventional portrait in return:
@wendywhite_nyc pic.twitter.com/zhuR2gsmC3
— Personal Shoplifter (@pshoplifter) October 20, 2016
Designer Michael Suen:
Hillary dressed like she ready for an Equilibrium sequel. #DebateNight pic.twitter.com/tf2CsDhpuK
— Michael Suen (@poetichentai) October 20, 2016
Artist Nicole Nadeau, also picking up on Clinton’s dress and its precedents in the political imagination:
Official power suit ??#Whitepantsuitslay #debate #hilary #claireunderwood pic.twitter.com/iIrUqYqwT0
— Nicole Nadeau (@NicoleNadeau) October 20, 2016
And critic and curator Ed Halter with something that is more of a commentary on her performance, we think:
Hillary giving a little bit of Jodie Foster technocrat tonight #debatenight pic.twitter.com/mROpwTH3mB
— Ed Halter (@edhalter) October 20, 2016
Film critic Mario Alegre, on Trump’s comment that lax immigration was letting “bad hombres” into the country:
“Bad hombres” #Debate pic.twitter.com/12Bezk4Tdu
— Mario Alegre (@MarioAlegre) October 20, 2016
And, of course, the Internet went crazy deliberately mishearing the comment as “bad ombres.” Filmmaker Geoffrey Stevens:
Trump's out to catch all the bad ombrés, starting with his own. pic.twitter.com/bPK9dsFQfh
— Geoffrey Stevens (@TheGeoffMan) October 20, 2016
Some speculation about what Trump was writing, from Glenn Howerton (aka Dennis from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), passed along by art critic Annie Raab:
Trump's notepad (courtesy @GlennHowerton) pic.twitter.com/0av8Qbchua
— Annie Raab (@annie_raab) October 20, 2016
And another one from Raab:
Trump presidency starter kit #debate pic.twitter.com/KIXXlw6uy7
— Annie Raab (@annie_raab) October 20, 2016
Jeanette Hayes, who always has something out there:
#DebateNight pic.twitter.com/JV0JPBr9LK
— Jeanette Hayes (@jeanettehayes) October 20, 2016
Artist Nayland Blake, responding to the exchange on whether Trump was a “puppet” of Putin:
#notallpuppets #debatenight pic.twitter.com/SBBVtEbvmc
— Slay-Land Blechhh (@naylandblake) October 20, 2016
Painter Chris Bors, lampooning Trump and picking up on Clinton’s accusation that he was crying “crocodile tears:”
Trump's Crocodile Tears #trump #crocodiletears pic.twitter.com/xEyqj6KYdM
— Chris Bors (@chrisbors) October 20, 2016
Curator Cambria Floyd on what may be the most infamous two words of the night:
HRC after the "nasty woman" comment: pic.twitter.com/xuXpiqXFrt
— Cambria Floyd (@cambriachanning) October 20, 2016
Plenty of people picked up on this, from journalism prof Andrew Lih:
Bathrooms according to Trump #debatenight pic.twitter.com/Ek2z910ufs
— Andrew Lih (@fuzheado) October 20, 2016
And this really could be a work of art:
I have laughed so hard at this over the last 10 minutes pic.twitter.com/cmje5AasUa
— Common White Girl (@CommonWhiteGirI) October 20, 2016
Sculptor John Powers expressed confidence that Clinton had pummeled The Donald:
Trump is a blood soaked mop of comb-over hair-like. pic.twitter.com/QpTamaCsMa
— Terrified Voter? (@JohnPowersUS) October 20, 2016
Art + Auction editor and critic Sara Roffino, assessing the night:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLxIPI7Ar1V/?taken-by=sararoffino
And art historian Jessica Bell Brown, summing up the meme-material of the evening:
T-shirt order as follows: The African American, Nasty Woman, Bad Ombré.
— Jess Bell Brown (@jessbellbrown) October 20, 2016