Live Tucker Reaction

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About

Live Tucker Reaction refers to a series of reaction images inspired by a live reaction camera of Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson, which was shown during Joe Biden's speech in March 2021. The images, which utilize the Live X Reaction snowclone, gained prominence on iFunny in summer 2021.

Origin

On March 11th, 2021, Fox News broadcasted United States President Joe Biden's speech in which he spoke about the passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. The speech coincided with the beginning of Tucker Carlson Tonight, a talk show hosted by political commentator Tucker Carlson, with Fox News broadcasting a picture-in-picture live reaction of Carlson,^[1] with the host maintaining a puzzled expression throughout the speech.

On the same day, Twitter^[2] user @MattLaslo tweeted about the broadcast, with the video gaining over 134,500 views in seven months (shown below). Later that day, Daily Caller tweeted^[3] a clip from the broadcast, with the video gaining over 2.8 million views in the same period.

Spread

On March 12th, 2021, several news outlets including INSIDER^[4] and Independent^[5] reported on the occurrence and social media reactions to the broadcast. That same day, iFunny^[6] user Joey_Stalin posted the cropped picture-in-picture to the app, with the image being used as a reaction in comment sections. The post gained 16 smiles in seven months (shown below, left).

On March 14th, 2021, the official Twitter^[7] and Instagram ^[8] accounts of The Daily Show posted the first known meme utilizing the image, with the post gaining over 4,000 retweets and 59,000 likes on Twitter and 127,200 likes on Instagram (shown below, center). On March 16th, iFunny^[9] user Goys posted a Fukuona Shoujo 03 edit that gained 67 smiles in seven months (shown below, right).

The reaction image did not achieve significant spread until April 1st, 2021, when an unknown user combined it with an image of a person receiving a pineapple haircut. On that day, Instagram^[10] user dopecontent.inc made the earliest found repost of the image, with the post gaining over 5,700 likes in six months (shown below, left). An April 3rd repost by Instagram^[11] account yourlordandsaviorpoopjesus gained an additional 9,600 likes.

Following the viral spread of the pineapple haircut image, the reaction image achieved notable virality in early April 2021, primarily on Instagram. For example, on April 5th, 2021, Instagram^[12] user owen_kung posted a meme that gained over 40,000 likes in six months (shown below, center). On the same day, Instagram^[13] user boomer.jim posted a meme that gained over 20,000 likes in the same period (shown below, right).

Prior to May 20th, an unknown user created the first derivative version of the reaction image, replacing Tucker Carlson with Sad-Eyed SpongeBob. On May 20th, iFunny^[14] user Halo_4_Mtn_Dew_Guy made the earliest found repost of the image (shown below, left).

Following the viral spread on Instagram, the reaction image achieved popularization on iFunny, where it was reposted^[15]^[16] several times and used as a reaction in comment sections. On July 23rd, iFunny^[17] user RepubYourFavoriteSongs reposted a Kaiser Mad / Sad-Eyed SpongeBob edit of the image, with the repost gaining over 1,500 smiles in four months (shown below, right).

In the following months, the reaction image inspired multiple edits utilizing "Live X Reaction" snowclone, typically created for the purpose of using in comment sections on the iFunny app.

Klaud / Live Slug Reaction

Klaud is a slug alien character who appears in the 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In February 2022, the character gained prominence in memes on Twitter and later on Tumblr, with an image of him staring in bewilderment being used as a reaction for depictions of LGBTQ+ romance, particularly when combined with the Live Tucker Reaction meme format.