Rapper and singer Azealia Banks may be the most controversial and self-contradictory philosopher of our times, but even she would be happy to note that a throwaway livestream from six years ago is now the go-to line to joke about two of the most powerful men in the United States having a very public spat.

In fact, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) herself said, "The girls are fighting aren't they," to joke about Elon Musk and Donald Trump going at it on the timeline recently.

So, where did the line "the girls are fightinggg" come from exactly? Here's the origin of the meme.

What's The Origin of the "The Girls Are Fighting" Meme?

The phrase first surfaced on September 8th, 2018, during an Instagram Live hosted by singer Azealia Banks. Reacting to Cardi B and Nicki Minaj's public altercation at New York Fashion Week, Banks used a Snapchat-style bunny filter to yell, "Whaaat? What is the tea, the girls are fighting! Nooo… the girls are fighting, why?!" all while a scroll of real-time viewer reactions buzzed onscreen.

Banks' euphoric delivery and her enthusiasm for the messy catfight made the video an instant Stan Twitter meme classic.

How Did "The Girls Are Fighting" Become a Meme?

Over the following years, the catchphrase continued to spread online as it became a humorous reference used to describe people publicly beefing, among other situations.

For example, on February 16th, 2019, X user @gluten-free-p---- posted a fake Presidential Alert meme that screamed, "THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGGG," racking up over 390,000 notes in six years.

In 2022, X user @Iuvjjkoo revived the phrase during a TikTok spat between record producer Benny Blanco and musician Charlie Puth, writing, "benny has even attacked him on tiktok lmao the girls are fighting." That post earned 17,000 likes.

On October 10th, 2023, X user @OnlyAWorldAway posted a tweet about conservative political pundit Ben Shapiro and Manosphere podcaster Andrew Tate arguing with each other online, writing, "🚨 THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGG 🚨," and gathered over 40,000 likes in two years.

By August 2024, Tumblr user @pankenl--d's brought the meme back to the site with a mock-serious update, "by god… it appears I was mistaken. they're…my goodness…by god," Each post leaned into the campy faux-drama that’s defined the meme’s staying power.

Why Did AOC Say "The Girls Are Fighting" in June 2025?

On June 5th, 2025, Democratic Representative AOC weighed in on the increasingly bitter public feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk by quoting Banks and the meme.

"The girls are fighting, aren’t they," she quipped in a clip shared by X user @gtconway3d, which swiftly pulled 4.3 million views and over 150,000 likes in less than a day.

“The girls are fighting, aren't they?” pic.twitter.com/JwxbuHhkMK

— George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway3d) June 6, 2025

But not everyone was amused by the jest. Some Bluesky users, including @elizaorlins, had already criticized the phrase as "misogynistic," arguing it weaponizes femininity to mock men.

Backlash to the backlash came just as fast, as X user @angel_0f_deathx joked, "they’re on bluesky arguing whether it's sexist to make ‘the girls are fighting’ jokes," earning 60,000 likes in 24 hours.

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For the full history of The Girls Are Fighting, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.