Who Is '99% Hitler' Meant To Be And Where Does The Meme Come From?

Why does 99 percent Hitler keep trending on X / Twitter? The bizarre concept born from a hot, hastily deleted take has been inspiring memes and heated discourse for a couple of days now, but what exactly is it meant to represent and is there a real person it was meant to metaphorically represent? Learn all about the hypothetical candidate and what you might want to do when your only election choices are Hitler and Hitler but one percent less bad in our brief explainer.

Where Does ‘99% Hitler’ Come From?

On November 13th, 2023, X / Twitter user @JacobUnruh333 wrote, "If there was an election where the only two viable candidates are Hitler and Hitler but 1% less bad, you are morally obligated to vote for hitler but 1% less bad." The tweet was a reply to a post critical of United States President Joe Biden which argued that "Biden fanatics simply don't care about the lives of Palestinians."

On the very same day, X user @shaun_vids quoted the post, commenting, "if an election comes down to hitler and 99% hitler you are morally obligated to overthrow your government." Now this post went viral on the site on the same day, and prompted other people to do their own takes on the matter.

What Is ‘99% Hitler’?

In the original post, 'Adolf Hitler' and 'Hitler but 1% less bad' are likely used as metaphors for the former United States President Donald Trump and the current President Joe Biden, respectively, as this meaning can be deduced from the context of the thread that @JacobUnrun333 replied to (see below).

However, the phrase sounds funny out of context, and after it trended on X users used it separately from any original meaning that was put into it.

‘99% Hitler’ Usage In Memes

Initially, the phrase was used by those aware of the original post that spawned it, and was mainly parodied by those who considered it to be a terrible take. Some offered alternatives to the choice between Hitler and 99% Hitler, while others pointed out that maybe Biden supporters should not refer to him as "99% Hitler" if they wanted him to be more appealing.

However, as 99% Hitler appeared in the trends tab on X / Twitter, users unfamiliar with the original post started using the phrase out of context.

For the full history of 99% Hitler, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.