Outgoing presidential power-couple Barack Obama and Joe Biden genuinely love and respect each other, a fact that is only highlighted by the fact that the incoming administration’s top twosome seems to only vaguely tolerate each other. The Obama-Biden friendship gets sort of italicized in the ongoing memes about the two, with Biden’s gregariousness and working-class roots drawn out to contrast Obama’s purported dignity and graciousness. Meme Biden is a channel for anything the meme creator thinks is rad, with Obama the exasperated straight man.
Thus it was both moving and fortuitous when Obama surprised Biden with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, the highest possible award given to civilians. As the country braces for an administration already defined by paranoia, scandal, and seething, venomous rage, one last round of Rad Uncle Biden memes acts as a soothing balm. This one took the form of a whole bunch of pop culture riffs:
It’s been a good run. Here’s looking forward to a fruitful career for Obama and BIden after office, in both politics and meme-hood.