NYT Article Misreads Online Slang in Trump Strategists' Call
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2 hours ago
The report by Peter Baker, Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan, and Maggie Haberman described a grim Republican mood ahead of expected midterm losses, linking the 'pill' phrasing to suicidal talk. Online users quickly pushed back, explaining 'white pill' means optimism and 'black pill' means fatalism, stemming from Matrix-inspired internet slang. Maggie Haberman later clarified on X that the reference was about hope amid a separate cyanide joke, but the mix-up fueled criticism of media's grasp on digital culture during the election.
This is one of the most widely understood phrases in all of memedom. Just another example of how the people who presume to tell you what to think and how to live don't know anything about you or your life.