That Alt-Right Leader Getting Clocked Has Been Memed Beyond Recognition

You might know Richard Spencer as the man who coined the term ‘alt-right‘. You might know Richard Spencer as the man behind that room full of Nazi-saluting Trump supporters. You might also know him as the man who got clocked in the jaw while giving an interview to our very own ABC.

Generally, the morality of punching someone in the face without provocation is pretty clear cut: you don’t do it. Is it morally as clear cut when the man has made a career of actively campaigning for a “peaceful ethnic cleansing” of the United States of everyone who isn’t European? It gets a little murkier.

But we’re not here to tell you how to or how to not punch pseudo-Nazis, what we can tell you is how people on the internet have reacted to the punch. Primarily they’ve fallen into four categories:

• Not racist, but believe that free speech must be safe from aggression, regardless of the content and thus the punching should be condemned.
• Not racist and believe that professionally encouraging violence over the course of decades towards the tens of millions of non-white people in the United States means what you are espousing is no longer “just an opinion” and is therefore deserving of retaliation, thus supporting the punch.
• Racist, and believe that not only should the punch be condemned but also Muslims should be put in camps.
• Not very political, but find a video of a white nationalist being punched in the face to be very funny.

The people in the fourth category have been very busy indeed. As Spencer himself predicted in an interview, the video has been memed at an alarming rate, with particular favour falling to remixes of the video itself, so much so that someone has set up a Twitter account specifically for collecting these remixes.

We obviously don’t condone violence but, I mean, if you don’t take the time to laugh at a white nationalist with a Hitler Youth haircut getting smacked in the gob mid-way through talking about his Pepe badge, all of which is set to Talking Heads, well, hell, you’ve forgotten how to live.

Here are some of the hits (sorry) for you to peruse either merrily or as you mentally prepare your delightfully astute comment about how this one thing is the exact reason that Trump won:

Richard Spencer getting punched | Psy – Gangnam style#richardspencer #antifa pic.twitter.com/fYeDwtdLxl

— Spencer Punch (@SpencerPunchRT) January 21, 2017

don’t be afraid, don’t have no fear… pic.twitter.com/OBknDoVhYp

— nat r. (@fullnommunism) January 22, 2017

Richard Spencer getting punched | Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart #richardspencer #antifa pic.twitter.com/Q7QDg2HxJ8

— Spencer Punch (@SpencerPunchRT) January 22, 2017

Viral Video of Richard Spencer Getting Punched — “My Heart Will Go On” Remix#CelineAScene pic.twitter.com/0e3GtIV1Hg

— Benstonium (@Benstonium) January 21, 2017

Had to do one more pic.twitter.com/gGtPZlToib

— Jordan Freiman (@JordanFreiman) January 23, 2017

And, of course, you can’t go past a bit of Thin Lizzy:

Spread the word around. pic.twitter.com/pacj1K7Xl3

— Peter Nygaard (@RetepAdam) January 21, 2017

Others took more esoteric routes than just dubbing music over the top:

pic.twitter.com/30iBBzb9wm

— illy bocean (@IllyBocean) January 23, 2017

h/t @orchid_grey @GeoffTrenchard @FoughtTheLaw pic.twitter.com/TfJ7Z7uYZX

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) January 21, 2017

Truly idle hands are the internet’s playthings. Just a reminder – just something to keep in mind – when you’re 40 Facebook comments into defending a man who by his own admission was completely unharmed and also by his own admission only avoids describing himself as a Nazi for PR reasons, there’s a fair chance you might look like a huge jackass doing so.