And they say people are disengaged from politics.
You wouldn’t know it from the Twitter traffic during the State of the Union. The folks at the microblogging site said more than 2.6 million tweets were sent around the world with the hashtag #SOTU.
It was a case of ‘come for the speech, stay for the spectacle.’
Sure, the President made a fiesty pitch for economic populism and issued a historic call for transgender protection. But SOTU was a feast for the eyes as well.
Here are our 11 favorite social media moments from Tuesday night.
1. Who wore it best?
First Lady Michelle Obama pulled a major fashion no-no by rockin’ the same dress as Julianna Margulies’ character, Alicia Florrick, on “The Good Wife.” Good thing they didn’t show up at the same party.
2. The Obama switcheroo
Before the speech, the White House tweeted a picture of a tan suit, with the caption, “President Obama’s suiting up for the big speech.” The last time the President wore a tan suit was to take questions in the White House press briefing room in August and Twitter freaked out. Alas, he wore a blue suit to the actual address Tuesday.
3. She’s got the look
When Obama made a quick reference to the polarizing Keystone XL pipeline, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) looked as giddy as a game show contestant.
4. Pencils in the air
Some members of Congress raised their pencils to honor the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.
5. Shoes sell the story
During the GOP response, Sen. Joni Ernst shared an anecdote of how she used to tie bread bags over her only good pair of shoes on rainy days. Tweeters don’t loaf around and #breadbags trended instantly.
Fortunately, things seems to have worked out for the freshman senator.
6. Insta … what?
That was the look on Scott Kelly’s face when the President told the astronaut, who’ll be spending a year on the International Space Station, to “make sure to Instagram.” Kelly doesn’t have an account (we checked).
7. Meanwhile, on the streets of DC
In the clueless crook department, a driver led police on a chase from the D.C. suburbs to the security checkpoint outside the U.S. Capitol. Probably not a good place to go, if you’re trying to escape.
8. Ooooh burn!
You can say one thing for the President, he thinks on his feet. “I have no more campaigns to run,” Obama said, drawing loud applause from Republicans in the chamber. But Obama had a quick comeback: “I know, ’cause I won both of ’em,” drawing even louder applause from Democrats.
9. Two can play this game
Not to be outdone, the Republicans gave as good as they got in the snark department.
10. Say ‘cheese!’
For some tweeters, the best part of #SOTU was, as usual, the live feed of John Boehner’s face. As in past years, the House Speaker kept it tan and grumpy.
11. The star of the show
But the person who won the Internet Tuesday night, delighting audiences with his Founding Father-inspired hairstyle, was Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “No one except my wife has cut my hair in decades,” he once told the Boston Globe. “And she’s not a professional.” Nope, never would have guessed that.