Stephen Harper's hand gesture sets off a meme goldrush - Action News
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Politics

Stephen Harper's hand gesture sets off a meme goldrush

Stephen Harper mocked the Liberals' plan to run a deficit with a series of hand gestures. The internet loved it.

The Conservative leader pinched his fingers and the internet did the rest

Stephen Harper on Trudeau's deficit plan

9 years ago
Duration 1:18
Conservative leader Stephen Harper reacts to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's plan to run deficits.

Ata campaign rally in Hamilton, Ont., on Thursday, Conservative LeaderStephen Harper mockedthe LiberalParty's plan to run a deficit.

Harper wascracking jokes, pinching his fingers andmakinggestureswith his hands, all aimed at mocking Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's proposal to run a"modest short-term deficit" duringhis first three yearsin office.

"He'll run, he says, a modest deficit, a tiny deficit, so small you can hardly see the deficit," a fired-upHarper said to huge crowd laughter.

"And only for threeyears, threedeficits, three modest little deficits."

CBC first posted a photo of Harper'shand gestures on Twitter and people got pretty excited.

They started comingup with their own interpretations.

It's the latest meme-able moment on the campaign trial, following onAngry Old Tory, Middle Kid and Bathrobe Guy.

There havebeen some other quality Harper-themed GIFs floating around on the internet...

There'sthis one from the Macleans'leaders debate in early August, where Harper debated against Trudeau, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

...but the squeezing of the fingersmight be the new contender for best GIF of the campaign.

Harper's not exactly known for being outwardlyhumorous and thatcaught a few folks offguard.

The Hamilton rally was decidedly relaxed compared toother Conservativecampaign stops. Harper cracked jokes and interacted with a cryingbaby. His speecheven saton a music stand, instead of apodium.

Some thought his jabs at Trudeau were pretty sassy.

While Harper was clearly having fun, there were some on the internet who just weren't having it at all.

And while Harper's hand gestures were referring to the Liberal deficit, some thought they meantsomething else.