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Did Over 75,000 People Really Write-In 'Hawk Tuah' For President? The Viral 'Vote Hawk Tuah' Memes Explained
Five months after the Hawk Tuah Girl burst onto the scene in June 2024, she still has a relatively firm grasp on the internet.
Now, claims are going viral on social media that she supposedly received over 75,000 write-in votes during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, a claim that has some people a little dumbfounded.
But are the claims even real or are they just a part of the meme? Here's what you need to know.
What Is The 'Write-In Hawk Tuah Girl' Meme?
As early as September 2024, social media users started making memes about writing in "Hawk Tuah" for president during the November 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. These memes largely seem tongue-in-cheek and self-aware that writing in "Hawk Tuah" isn't exactly the best use of your vote.
Besides that, the woman behind Hawk Tuah is named Haliey Welch, making a write-in of "Hawk Tuah" doubly useless.
These memes accelerated as the election neared, resulting in a lot of elaborate jokes about voting Hawk Tuah.
One of the most popular memes consisted of a photo of what appears to be an actual voting ballot with "Hawk Tuah" written in on the write-in section. So, did some people actually vote Hawk Tuah?
Well, according to recent post-election memes, you might think so.
Did Hawk Tuah Girl Get 75,000 Write-In Votes In The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election?
A day after the presidential election, a supposed screenshot of a CNN Politics article was posted online. The article, allegedly written by Stephen Collinson, is titled, "Over 75,000 of the counted votes were write-ins for 'Hawk Tuah' and 'Talk Tuah."
The screenshot quickly started to spread, with even Haliey Welch quote-reposting it, writing, "Omg this can’t be real 💀."
Unless you're a massive Haliey Welch fan, you'll be happy to hear that the article is, in fact, a hoax. CNN never published an article making this claim and we don't know how many, if any, write-ins were actually made for Hawk Tuah or Talk Tuah, Welch's podcast.
Of course, this hasn't stopped the meme from spreading, even receiving a post to the subreddit /r/idiocracy that gained over 2,500 upvotes in under 24 hours, as well as many others that have since been removed due to misinformation.
For the full history of the Write-In Vote Hawk Tuah Girl for President meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.