Not all heroes wear capes, as evidenced by the Elaine Quijano memes and tweets following the vice presidential debate on Oct. 4. While Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine were quick to interrupt each other and stray off topic, she continued to keep a steely resolve in a valiant attempt to keep them on track, inspiring Twitter to GIF, meme, and tweet their 140-character praise in her honor. And who deserves it more than the debate moderator with what is arguably the classiest on-air eye roll of all time?
The stats aren't in yet on just how many times Pence and Kaine interrupted Quijano, how many times they interrupted each other, or how many times all three of them spoke over each other, but an educated guess leads me to believe that the number is approximately Too Damn High. If you thought you were starting to get a headache during the 90-minute debate, then please imagine for a moment — if you can stand it — what it was like for Elaine Quijano, who did not have the mercy of hitting mute and grabbing the mint chip ice cream from the freezer to cool down her #rage the way that the rest of us did. There is a general consensus on Twitter that this debate was simply 90 minutes of two white men interrupting a woman of color — and it doesn't take more than a few minutes of watching the coverage to see that they're right.
But Quijano's resolve during the debate did not go unnoticed, as evidenced by all the memes and tweets. First and foremost, though, let us revel in the eyes that were rolled round the world.
We Can All Tell How She's Feeling
... And Twitter Can, Too
Watching Quijano eye roll during this debate is somehow more satisfying than I imagine it would be to live on a cheesecake cloud. But the testaments to the nonsense she endured during the debate don't end there, because Twitter was quick to rally in (hilarious) support of her.
