Truth Nuke

Submission 283

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

About

Truth Nuke is a catchphrase and slang term often said ironically, meaning a moment of profound, impactful truth-telling a step beyond a "truth bomb." A Truth Nuke can be a premonition that comes to fruition or a hard reality that's difficult to deliver but true nonetheless. Truth Nuke is a common caption in image macros and posts on Twitter / X, sometimes used in quote tweets. It was originally the name of a website called TruthNuke.com, which was created in 2009. The use of Truth Nuke became associated with right-wing and conspiracy theory lingo by the late 2010s. It was often used in posts about DESTROYING Liberals. It later gained ironic and satirical usage in the 2020s, likely due to its exaggerated history. By late 2024, Truth Nuke became synonymous with a reaction image of a nuclear explosion vaporizing a screaming Soyjak with a gold top caption reading, "TRUTH NUKE," in all caps.

Origin

Truth Nuke was first the name of a website called TruthNuke.com, which was created in 2009. It was first added to the Internet Archive on May 29th, 2009.^[1]^[2] TruthNuke.com is no longer in operation but 71 captures of its Home page were added to the Internet Archive^[3] between 2009 and 2024.

The term Truth Nuke gained usage on Twitter / X^[4]^[5] in 2009, at first associated with the website. In May 2014, the phrase "truth nuke" was used on 4chan's /int/^[6] board. In October 2015, it was used on /pol/.^[8]

Going into the late 2010s, Truth Nuke was predominantly used by right-wing and conspiracy posters. For instance, on September 15th, 2017, the X^[7] account @TwitchyTeam tweeted about conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro dropping a "MASSIVE truth nuke on abortion fans," gaining over 250 likes in seven years.

On November 3rd, 2022, conservative pundit Benny Johnson posted a Fox News clip to X,^[9] using the term Truth Nuke in the caption. The tweet is currently the first known, viral usage of Truth Nuke online. It received roughly 3,800 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

In the following months and years, Benny Johnson continued using Truth Nuke in viral posts, like one tweet^[10] shared on November 28th, 2022, that captioned a video, "Based journalist drops truth nuke…" gaining over 26,000 likes in two years.

The use of Truth Nuke spread outside of right-wing lingo and amassed usage from leftists in 2024. For instance, on July 22nd, X^[11] user JUNlPER (@CantEverDie) posted a Kamala Harris tweet about Donald Trump being a predator, captioning it, "Truth nuke tweet." Over five months, the post gained roughly 16,000 likes (shown below).

Ironic and satirical usage surfaced en masse soon after. For instance, on September 9th, X^[12] user @gommunisd shared a tweet from an Indian user who said that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a great American and literally wrote the Bible, gaining over 26,000 likes in three months (shown below).

Soyjak Reaction Image

On August 17th, 2023, a 4chan user shared an image to /lgbt/^[13] that was a screaming "Cobson" Soyjak being vaporized by a nuclear explosion with "TRUTH NUKE" written in a gold top caption (shown below). The post is currently the first discovered upload of the image.

The image gained viral usage on X in the following months. For instance, on December 2nd, 2024, X^[14] user @sexytwerp shared the meme in a quote tweet concerning a cat named Uni having a nose, receiving over 35,000 likes in four days (shown below).