A photograph of President Joe Biden celebrating his 81st birthday is being hailed by some as the new “This Is Fine” meme.
In a post to Threads on Monday, the president’s official account showcased Biden sitting across from a birthday cake covered in lit candles.
The significant number of candles produced a comically-large flame that was quickly seized upon by social media.
“President Biden is celebrating his 81st birthday,” conservative podcaster Kyle Becker wrote. “That cake is America right now.”
Brendan Karet, a researcher for the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters, argued that the photo had some of the worst political optics of the last 10 years.
“filing this under ‘worst optics of the decade’ next to the trump taco bowl tweet,” Karet wrote.
The image was also used to highlight Biden’s age as well as the growing consensus among Americans that our politicians are becoming too old.
“Joe Biden is so old, his birthday cake is a fire hazard,” an X user said.
But many pointed out the photo’s resemblance to the “This is Fine” meme, which famously shows a dog attempting to convince himself that everything is fine despite being in a room filled with flames.
The meme is often used, as described by Know Your Meme, as a reaction image that conveys “a sense of self-denial or acceptance in the face of a hopeless situation.”
The Biden administration, seemingly aware of the attention garnered by the photo, joined in on the joke by stating on his Instagram account that it had actually been his 146th birthday. The post has since received more than 1 million likes.
“Thanks for the birthday well-wishes today, everyone,” Biden’s account said. “Turns out on your 146th birthday, you run out of space for candles!”
Biden is currently the oldest individual ever to serve as president. A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal in August found that 73 percent of voters believed that Biden was too old to serve a second term. Biden’s top contender, former President Donald Trump, would be 78 years if elected in 2024.
