- Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration happened on 20 January
- There were some strange moments at the event
- The internet reacted
Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on 20 January was one of the year’s most anticipated events. Trump took office and will now be in power until 2029. His inauguration comes after winning the November election against former president Joe Biden. This is Trump’s second presidential term and a polarizing one for the public.
Read more: Melania Trump adds to Trump Crypto meme coin empire
Naturally, the inauguration was watched by millions as a moment in history. There were performances from many American artists, including Carrie Underwood. As well as performances for the Presidential Inauguration there were celebrity guests who attended. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jake Paul and other political figures attended.
However, it wasn’t just who attended (or didn’t) that had people talking online. The inauguration happened in an age where the Internet is where everything is documented and analyzed and Trump’s big day was no exception.
Read more: The Internet reacts to Melania Trump’s Inauguration hat
X, Instagram, and other social media platforms were flooded with memes reacting to all the weird and wacky moments at the inauguration. From Melania Trump’s hat to that awkward kiss, the internet had some things to say.
Melania and Trump’s awkward kiss at the Presidential Inauguration
Trump and the First Lady have been married since 2005. Since his presidential run in 2016, they have been in the media, and many times cameras have caught them together looking… well, awkward. Viewers thought they spotted another bizarre moment of them at the presidential inauguration.
President Trump entered for his inauguration and went up to his wife. He leans to kiss his wife on the cheek but instead of leaning in further, the two end up air-kissing each other. Trump smiles and then goes to talk to Biden and other people in the crowd.
The moment caused a stir online with users. Some debated the two didn’t kiss because of the First Lady’s hat, which had a wide-brimmed hat. Others thought it was purposeful, but that didn’t stop the reactions online.
One user on X posted the video of the kiss and captioned it by saying Trump “attempts to kiss Melania Trump”. Ouch for the ‘attempts’.
President-elect Trump attempts to kiss Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/GPDr9B4US2
— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) January 20, 2025
The First Lady’s hat
Others complimented the 54-year-old’s huge hat’s ability to block the kiss. Another user posted a meme with a screenshot of the kiss with a still from the horror classic Alien 3. Yeah, this one is kind of terrifying…
— 4KT WHO YOU HATE (@royal_bobby24) January 20, 2025
Another user compared the hat to basketball defense. Well, that hat is pretty big, it could stop anyone from getting close.
Others were less than pleased with the jokes and commentary, arguing people were just trying to ruin Trump’s day.
melania trump’s hat blocking trumps kiss pic.twitter.com/9OomVtdL7j
— Fat Rat (@FatRatCowboy) January 20, 2025
Spencer Davis wrote: “People trying to turn a hat into a controversy is rock bottom”.
Other users echoed Davis’ point of view, pointing out that the hat’s shape was the reason, not anything else.
One user who defended President Trump and his wife said: “It’s not like she didn’t have a hat on.”
Another agreed it was the hat, but that it was in the name of fashion. She joked: “It’s called fashion, people. And it comes first.”
Of course, fashion is the number one priority.
Elon’s controversial salute
Elon Musk’s controversy has increased since he bought X, but he was once again in hot water. At the presidential inauguration, he made some movements with his hands which people thought was an NSFW salute with his right arm. (You know what we mean).
He did what some users called a specific kind of salute while thanking President Trump after the inauguration. Musk put his palm to his chest and then extended his right arm out towards the crowd, slightly above him with his palm down. He did it more than once.
Naturally, the reactions were ones of shock, confusion, and defensiveness over Musk by some.
The first defense by the public that appeared to come up was people self-diagnosing Musk with autism. To be clear, there is no public record of him being autistic.
One user challenged this, asking users: “Can we stop self-diagnosing Elon Musk with Autism? The man is a psychopath and that has nothing to do with Autism”.
Another user was confused by the gesture: “[WTF? What did Elon Musk just do??”
WTF?? What did Elon Musk just do?? pic.twitter.com/ESNjAG874s
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) January 20, 2025
Our thoughts exactly.
Defending Musk
Other users called out the people who defended the Tesla founder, mocking their arguments against the action. The defense in question was that what he did wasn’t a salute or anything fascist, it was simply a gesture of appreciation to the crowd and President Trump.
James Parker spoke about the moment in a video.
Let’s talk about that ‘gesture’ from Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/bsfN5W1NUV
— James Parker (@panoparker) January 21, 2025
Other users thought that the reactions calling Musk out for racism were extreme. One user wrote: “Other users thought that the reactions calling Musk out for racism were extreme. One user wrote”.
So ridiculous how thirsty they are for racism.
— Wildfire Whispers (@WildfireWhisper) January 20, 2025
Music malfunctions during Carrie Underwood’s performance
Although the presidential inauguration had many performers, that didn’t stop the music from malfunctioning. Technical difficulties standby, please.
When Underwood was due to begin singing America The Beautiful, the audio cut out before she even began to sing. After, she was forced to sing acapella. She urged the audience to join, saying, “If you know the words, help me out here”.
Users were divided on X about the performance. Some praised Underwood for working well under pressure. There wouldn’t have been a bigger historical event where something of that magnitude could have happened, after all. Others were less thrilled and made memes over the performance.
First of all, the consensus on X was that people found her performance “beautiful” and praised Underwood for being able to sing without a backing track or musical assistance.
Benny Johnson praised Underwood’s solo singing, saying it gave him “absolute chills”.
A technical malfunction kept the music from playing for Carrie Underwood at the inauguration.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 20, 2025
After a short pause, Carrie took matters into her own hands and started singing solo.
The result is absolute chills:
What a talent.pic.twitter.com/IyvKNCQhF7
Another called Underwood’s display “totally classy”, saying: “Carrie Underwood is totally classy and professional singing America The Beautiful a cappella. Thank you to the all-American girl. God bless America”.
Carrie Underwood is totally classy and professional singing America The Beautiful a cappella.
— ƤƖҲƖЄ (@Pixie1z) January 20, 2025
Thank you to the all American girl.
God bless America. https://t.co/iH9DY0eBDx
The clowning of Carrie
Others, however, clowned the singer for singing at the inauguration entirely. One user even claimed it was “musical justice” that the music didn’t work before she tried to sing.
Carrie Underwood having sound problems before she sings America the Beautiful. That's musical justice, babe
— John dutch (@jiggIypoof) January 20, 2025
Another user mocked Underwood’s singing.
Carrie Underwood singing at Trump’s inauguration pic.twitter.com/nvWL9A6C0f
— 💍Prostitution Whore💍 (@Pr0sttti0nWh0re) January 14, 2025
Regardless of how you feel about Trump or Underwood, singing at a historical event – forcibly singing acapella- is impressive.
The Inauguration did have some weird and wonderful moments, but the point is to celebrate a historical event, no matter what political side you stand for.
