Trigger the Libs

About

Trigger the Libs is a phrase used by some conservatives and the Alt-right with regards to actions taken specifically to upset, or trigger, liberals. The phrase has been used sarcastically by the left to make fun of right-wingers who use the phrase when they do something silly and debasing in the hopes of making a political point. It can be expressed in various permutations such as "owning the libs," "owning snowflakes," etc.

Origin

While the concept of "triggering" had long been used as a way to mock the left on the right, the phrase "trigger the libs" began seeing use during the 2016 United States Presidential Election. The earliest use of the phrase "Trigger the libs" on Twitter was posted on July 31st, 2016 by user @S55N007^[1] remarking on an outfit worn by Hillary Clinton (shown below).

Spread

Over the following year and through the course of the Donald Trump administration, the phrase has been used by Trump supporters. It is particularly common on /r/The_Donald in threads where people post pictures in the effort to upset liberals (examples shown below).

The phrase and practice of doing certain things to "trigger the libs" became a way for leftists and liberals to mock Trump supporters. For example, after it was revealed that Trump ordered a well-done steak with ketchup at a restaurant in February,^[2] people on the left mocked his steak preference. This led to some on the right, notably Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson, ^[3] to argue that eating steak well-done was the manliest way to eat steak (shown below).

The following day, Matt Bors^[4] of The Nib posted a comic mocking the uptick in support of well done steaks done to "trigger the libs" in a comic (shown below).

Watson has been a particular target of mockery for liberals, as he's pulled several self-debasing pranks in an effort to prove a point to liberals, including faking he had pica eating disorder, a disorder in which one eats paper,^[5] and drinking milk and eating sushi and doing the OK Symbol. ^[6]

Turning Point USA Diaper Protest

On October 18th, 2017, members of the conservative site and movement Turning Point USA dressed in diapers and acted like babies at Kent State University to mock safe spaces. The moment was roundly mocked online for how the protestors debased themselves in an attempt to "own the libs" (examples shown below).

Eating Papa John's to Trigger the Libs

Following pizza chain Papa John's claim that the NFL's #TakeAKnee protests were hurting sales, the chain was embraced by conservatives and neo-nazis, which Papa John's later denounced. Still, the chain made fans of members of the alt-right, notably Jack Posobiec,^[7] who on November 4th, 2017, tweeted an image of Papa John's pizzas he'd ordered for the rehearsal dinner at his wedding (shown below).

This led to jokes that Posobiec was willing to serve his wedding guests what some consider bad pizza in an effort to trigger the libs (examples shown below).

Drinking Toilet Water to Own the Libs

On July 1st, 2019, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a tweet while visiting the detention facilities at the U.S.-Mexico Border claiming she saw people "drinking out of toilets."^[7] In response to the claims Ocasio-Cortez made in her tweets, Border Patrol officer Roy Villareal posted a video attempting to prove the congresswoman's claims wrong. While addressing the "drinking out of toilets" claim, he said "aliens have options," pointing to a water cooler and a combination toilet/sink. He claimed the sink portion of the toilet/sink had clean water, and to prove it, he took a drink from the sink attached to the toilet (shown below).

On July 4th, Infowars^[8] wrote about the video with the headline "BORDER PATROL AGENT DRINKS FROM TOILET TO DEBUNK AOC." Twitter user @JackClayton617^[9] tweeted a link to the article with the headline and the hashtags "#BorderPatrol" and "#AOCResign" (shown below).

In response to Clayton's tweet, Twitter users made jokes similar to ones made when conservatives have debased themselves in order to prove a point to liberals. For example, Twitter user @MatthewCherry^[10] tweeted simply "Drinking toilet water to own the libs," gaining over 90 retweets and 500 likes (shown below, left). User @MrBrandonStroud^[11] sarcastically tweeted, "yes, everyone who hates liberals please chug toilet water all day, it makes us so mad," gaining over 60 retweets and 220 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References