Cocaine Found In the White House

Overview

Cocaine Found In the White House refers to a July 2023 controversy and crime in which a white powder substance (later discovered to be the illegal drug cocaine) was found in the White House during U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. Although the drug was found in the West Wing's common area (speculated to have been brought by a tourist), the event led to a slew of memes and viral discourse on social media, with many humorously suspecting and joking that Hunter Biden was the culprit (also using the nickname "Snow Biden").

Background

On July 2nd, 2023, AP News,^[1] among other news outlets, reported that the White House had been briefly evacuated after the Secret Service discovered a "suspicious powder" in a common area of the West Wing. At the time of the discovery, President Joe Biden nor Hunter Biden were at the White House because they left for Camp David on June 30th.^[2] An initial drug test then identified the powder as the illegal substance cocaine.^[1] Outlets like the Daily Mail^[2] released an audio recording of the hazmat team discovering that the powder was cocaine. The audio was reposted to Twitter^[3] on July 4th (shown below).

Audio of Hazmat team finding cocaine at Biden's White House pic.twitter.com/DZAfp7jpZX

— Defund NPR--Defund Democrats (@defundnpr3) July 4, 2023

Online Reaction

Reactions to the news surfaced en masse on July 3rd and July 4th, 2023. For instance, an early, viral reaction was posted by Twitter^[4] user @PamelaHensley22 on July 3rd, who humorously inferred that it was President Biden's son Hunter Biden who supposedly left the cocaine, gaining roughly 4,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). Early on July 4th, Twitter^[5] user @hannahtindle then stated that the headline sounded like a Lana Del Ray song, gaining roughly 72,600 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Reactions and memes continued to surface about the event going into the following days, many of which referenced the event's proximity to the 4th of July. For instance, on July 4th, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @gracecamille_ tweeted, "Hunter Biden leaving cocaine in the White House library is the greatest Independence Day story of all time," gaining roughly 3,000 likes in one day (shown below, left). Memes also surfaced on other platforms, such as a post from Instagram^[7] user @grandoldmemes on July 4th that also referenced Hunter Biden, gaining roughly 5,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References