Russia can't seem to get a break from accusations of interfering in American politics. First, they were accused of hacking the election. Then, they got blamed for patching RT through to C-SPAN and glitching out an MSNBC anchor to say 'Russia' over and over. Now, a couple rouge fireworks at Donald Trump's pre-inaugural fireworks display saying 'USR' ('United States of Russia' presumably) have led to a revival of the 'Russians did it' meme in full force.
On Thursday night, at a pre-inauguration welcoming party, speaking before tens of thousands of supporters at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial, the President-elect delivered a stirring speech, promising to make America not just great, but "greater than ever before." Telling the crowd to "enjoy the fireworks," Trump left the stage as the Battle Hymn of the Republic rang out, sung by US Marines, accompanied by a dazzling fireworks display which lasted for over five minutes.
However, just as the display reached its crescendo, meaning to spell out 'USA' in giant red, white and blue letters, viewers began scratching their heads and asking why the 'A' looked like an 'R'.
Still, the 'A's striking resemblance of an 'R', complete with proper curvature, soon turned into a social media sensation, and is even being reported on, tongue in cheek, by major media outlets.
USR? United States of... RUSSIA?! #TrumpInauguration pic.twitter.com/NHZlg4sfvf
— H. Alan Scott (@HAlanScott) 19 января 2017 г.
Nice to know I wasn't the only one who saw #USR instead of #USA United States of Russia 🇷🇺 🇺🇸
— 🥀Ms_Alyxx (@PsLoveAlyxx) 20 января 2017 г.
Break out the vodka. The fireworks just spelled out #USR instead of USA. Thank you Russia aka USSR. #trumpinauguration #LincolnMemorial pic.twitter.com/w5lnapRwh9
— Arizona Votes (@AZVotes) 19 января 2017 г.
Curiously, the errant 'R' even made it into Trump's own tweet about Thursday's celebrations, sparking further jokes and conspiracy theories.
Not again...looks like Russia has now hacked the fireworks display at Trump's inauguration concert #USR pic.twitter.com/hq4r4CxMgK
— Jack Chamberland (@JChamberland33) 20 января 2017 г.
As expected, the meme quickly caught the attention of Russian Twitter users, who 'welcomed' Americans into the 'United States of Russia', created videos of the fireworks overlaid with an English-language version of the Soviet anthem, and joked that Russian hackers were obviously behind the 'R'.
2017 начался просто изумительно, честное слово 😂#USR pic.twitter.com/Lz1PtUIf4t
— Хамфри без вина (@HumphreyWithout) 20 января 2017 г.
"2017 is off to an amazing start, to be honest. #USR" (Picture on the left reads 'foreigners' - 'Russians')
