The girls are fighting, aren’t they… and I’m not talking about on RuPaul’s Drag Race. ICYMI, President Donald Trump and his former bestie, Elon Musk, have made headlines after their public falling out during the first week of June. (What a start to Pride Month, amiright?) The whole ordeal has inspired many hilarious memes already, but one of the most iconic was Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC) reaction to the crashout — and it references an already popular meme.
On June 5, a Spectrum 1 News reporter approached AOC outside the Capitol and asked for her reaction to Trump and Musk’s fallout. In response, AOC cheekily said, “Oh, man, the girls are fighting, aren’t they?” She continued, “You know, I would say that this was something that was a long time coming, where we’ve been seeing that these two huge egos were not long for being together in this world as friends. And so I think this breakup, we’ve been seeing a long time coming. But we’ll see what the impacts are of it legislatively.”
In classic internet fashion, AOC’s reaction went totally viral. And while her quote was certainly iconic, she’s not the person who originally coined it. In fact, as the girls and gays might know, “the girls are fighting” is a meme that goes way back. And, if you’re wondering about its origin, here’s the breakdown.
“The girls are fighting” meme origin, explained:
Now, I’m sure folks have been saying this for years before it became internet lingo. However, the phrase first made its way into internet meme-dom on September 8, 2018, during an Instagram Live hosted by singer Azealia Banks. Using a Snapchat-style bunny filter, Banks reacted to Cardi B and Nicki Minaj’s public altercation at New York Fashion Week, yelling “Whaaat? What is the tea? The girls are fighting! No… the girls are fighting! Why?!”
After that, the quote made its way through queer Twitter (now X), especially in regard to Drag Race, before appearing in the mainstream. Now, it’s being referenced on the steps of the Capitol. And you know what? Hell yeah.