Hillary Clinton's New Status Is No Joke

Ahead of the California primaries, the Associated Press projected that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, launching a Twittersphere feeding frenzy as pundits, news outlets and spectators alike joined in on rehashing the news. Meanwhile, it was business as usual for social media's resident laugh peddlers, who treated the news the only way they know how: by sharing jokes and memes about Clinton's nominee status.

Jokes about politics are nothing new: From the long history of political cartoons and even longer history of satire to impersonations on Saturday Night Live , finding entertainment in the often fraught and mundane world of politics has been valuable for almost as long as politics have been a thing. As with every advent in technology from the printing press to smartphones, social media has widened the playing field for humor. Enter the world of memes: pieces of viral content that change and are added onto with each share. Typically images, memes can be everything from the traditional "top text/bottom text" meme format to song spoofs that go viral on Vine and, more recently, the bizarre (and controversial) "dat boi" meme.

Political memes in the 2012 presidential election were popular, but the recent influx of memes due in large part to increasing social media usership and the popularity of Bernie Sanders (and his dank meme stash) makes the memes of 2012 look quaint by comparison. Below are some of the best memes and jokes that followed the AP announcement of Clinton's presumptive nominee status.

A hilarious play on the "Trump knows" meme, invoking real quotes from The Donald where he inserts himself into the conversation in a hilariously narcissistic fashion (such as the time he said he and Russian president Vladimir Putin were "stablemates" on 60 Minutes because they appeared in the same segment, though in actuality they were on different continents).

Journalist Libby Watson moonlights as a hilarious Twitter-er, making a meme-like play on the sexist double standard with which media outlets are covering the AP's nomination call, and Sanders' refusal to throw in the towel.

Hilarious take on the "we're not ready for a female president!" trope that's followed Clinton's presidential bid.

In classic gif response fashion, this Twitter user expresses the futility of voting for Clinton in an already-called primary.

A somewhat-serious joke about the headlines that highlight Clinton's role as the first female presidential nominee of a major party.

Perhaps the most meta of all — a crying Michael Jordan superimposed over Sanders' face in supposed reaction to the news that Clinton is the presumptive nominee.

But mostly, as you see, some people are just super stoked.