What is The 'Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him' Meme?

When American authorities captured Saddam Hussein on December 13th, 2003, Ambassador Paul Bremer announced the news to a packed auditorium. Little did he know that over a decade later, the same would be used to announce the pranking of a Twitch streamer who had unwittingly walked right into a ligma joke.

What Is 'Ligma'?

If you don't know yet, it's already too late.

Where Does 'Ladies And Gentlemen, We Got Him' Come From?

The original video was recorded in Baghdad. Bremer was charged with the administration of Iraq after the American-led coalition invasion and toppling of Saddam Hussein. The dictator had gone into hiding after his military's defeat by the United States, and was discovered in a hole in the ground by coalition forces.

Bremer announced this to the audience, saying famously "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him" in a moment of tough-guy triumph and bravado similar to George Bush's famous '"mission accomplished"":https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mission-accomplished photo op.

How Is 'Lades And Gentlemen, We Got Him' Used In Memes?

In the late 2010s, the video of Bremer was reinterpreted and used in a very different context: now, in memes, instead of celebrating the US military's capture of a dictator, Bremer celebrates the successful execution of a prank. Specifically, these pranks center around getting a high-profile streamer or YouTuber to walk right into a joke about a body part attached to a male: specifically, ligma or sugandese.

Famously, "We got him" was used to celebrate the successful pranking of PewDiePie. The video also gets paired with dramatic SWAT team footage and jokes about capturing people misbehaving.

Why Do People Still Post 'Ladies And Gentlemen, We Got Him'?

Pieces of media depicting American leaders during the War on Terror period have become a rich source of memes in recent years. Most famously, George Bush learning about 9/11 has become an all-purpose reaction image. Often, these memes mock the leaders for expressing a sense of triumph that seems misplaced, or use them as a punchline.

A core part of what makes things funny is juxtaposition: a serious government announcement doesn't match with a juvenile prank on an online personality, so it's funny to mash the two together. But maybe the deeper political message of these memes is that politicians aren't any less silly than streamers, even though the consequences of their actions are more serious.

For the full history of "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him" be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.