A video that went viral on Reddit and TikTok shows a white woman, whom many have dubbed “Karen,” yelling “America!” at a bar, supposedly over election results in Georgia.
Titles and captions attached to the video on social media state that the woman is responding to Georgia going “blue” in the 2020 presidential election, which is the first time since 1992 that the state has swung toward Democrats.
The Democrats’ victory in the state was possible due to historic turnout of Black voters, who analysts say were pivotal in this election, especially through the work of Black women and Black youth. In that context, it seems entirely likely that in an election this polarized, a so-called “Karen” would throw a fit.
However, the details of the video show the incident may not have been a reaction to election results after all. The video, only a few seconds long, shows the woman screaming, “For America!” first at someone behind the bar and then at the person recording the video.
A man in a jersey who appears to be her companion intervenes and literally drags the woman to the door. He lifts her up and carries her out of the bar, while others around them are seen laughing. One person even mocks the woman.
The video is captioned “Karen cannot accept Georgia becoming a blue state,” and has received more than 15,000 upvotes on Reddit since being posted on Monday evening. It appears to have been first posted on Monday by user @sosassy2019 on TikTok, where it garnered more than a million views.
“The state of Georgia will not accept they are a blue state,” the TikTok’s caption says. The Reddit user who uploaded the video told the Daily Dot they had no further information about the incident. TikTok user @sosassy2019 did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comments when contacted via Instagram on Tuesday.
From the length and content of the video, the context of the incident isn’t clear. But in one comment, a Reddit user questioned whether it took place prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The Daily Dot concluded that no one, including servers, is wearing a mask in the video.
According to an executive order issued in October, published by Georgia Department of Public Health, workers at bars and restaurants in Georgia are required to wear face masks during their shifts. Unless everyone at the establishment was shirking the order, it’s unlikely that the woman was yelling about Georgia—or the 2020 election at all.
