Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Inquiry Testimony

Overview

Gordon Sondland's Impeachment Inquiry Testimony occurred on November 20th, 2019. The testimony from United States Ambassador to the European Union implicated U.S. President Donald Trump in the alleged quid pro quo between President Trump and the Ukrainian government. Sondland's testimony has been the source of controversy as well as the inspiration for numerous memes.

Background

In early October 2019, Sondland told House impeachment investigators that he had no knowledge of President Trump attempting to withhold military aid from Ukraine in exchange for their government investigating presidential candidate Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.^[1]

Following other statements given by other officials, Sondland amended his testimony stating that he did, in fact, remember telling an aide to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that they would not receive military assistance until his government announced that they would investigate Vice President Biden.

On November 20th, 2019, Ambassador Sondland, who was appointed by President Trump, testified before the House Intelligence^[2] in the 2019 impeachment inquiry. He said, "I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’  With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes" (shown below).

Developments

Online Reaction

During the testimony, people made jokes and memes about Sondland. Author Stephen King tweeted,^[8] "Gordon Sondland looks to me like Austin Powers's nemesis, Dr. Evil. I keep expecting him to touch his little finger to the corner of his mouth and say, 'When I was 18 I went to evil medical school. At age 25 I took up tap dancing…' The tweet received more than 10,000 likes and 865 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). Twitter^[9] user @goldengateblond tweeted, "Listening to Gordon Sondland, I couldn’t help but wonder: Will his testimony have the pizazz necessary to capture public attention?" The tweet received more than 2,700 likes and 270 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

That day, the testimony was discussed on Reddit. Redditor^[10] unknown)human posted a GIF of U.S. Representative Devin Nunes looking dismayed after the testimony. Within 24 hours, the GIF received more than 63,000 points (83% upvoted) and 5,600 comments (shown below).

Sondland Smirk

That day, The Washington Post^[3] published a photograph taken by Matt McClain of Sondland staring at a camera and smiling. NBC producer Christina Ginn tweeted ^[4] the picture with the caption "This Amb. Sondland pic is the greatest." The tweet received more than 32,000 likes and 6,300 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

BuzzFeed News editor @davidmackau tweeted^[5] the photo with the caption "The honorable Ambassador to the Republic of
Messy Bitches Who Live For Drama." The tweet received more than 1,500 likes and 200 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

Throughout the day, people combined the photograph with other memes. For example, Twitter^[6] user @emilcDC tweeted a *Record Scratch* *Freeze Frame* meme (shown below, right).

That morning Twitter^[7] user @alexblagg posted the photograph next to the image of Disaster Girl. The tweet received more than 57,000 likes and 11,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Media Coverage

Virtually every media outlet covered the testimony and related memes, including Time,^[11] New York Times,^[12] CNN,^[13] Elite Daily,^[14] CBS^[15] and more.

Related Memes

Donald Trump's "I Want Nothing" Note

Donald Trump's "I Want Nothing" Note refers to an image macro of United States President Donald Trump holding a note refuting testimony delivered by U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

Search interest

External References