Whenever someone dies, social media is a miasma of well-intentioned tributes, thoughtful prayers, and people shitting all over them.
But in the case of Henry Kissinger, who died last night at 100, the mood was downright celebratory.
Kissinger, who served as Secretary of State under former President Richard Nixon and authored some of history’s most brutal acts of war, including the illegal bombing of Cambodia, became an online villain as, over time, he refused to die.
That longevity became a long-stanging internet meme.
Whenever a beloved celebrity died, Kisinger’s name popped up, wondering why it couldn’t have been him.
A popular image, of the Grim Reaper playing the claw game, would circulate, asking “Is Henry Kissinger even in this thing?”
Well, yesterday, he was.
Henry Kissinger Death Memes
A number of images riffed on the popular death comes for everyone else meme.
Some, though, joked that Satan himself would be scared of Kissinger.
Or embrace him.
On X, which has long pushed the meme of being frustrated that Kissinger is still alive, numerous different all-caps comments trended including, “IT FINALLY HAPPENED,” HE’S DEAD,” and “REST IN PISS BOZO.”
The account, “Did Henry Kissinger Die Yet” finally had its moment in the sun. It’s all caps “YES” racked up over 350,000 likes.
Afterward, the owner of “Did Henry Kissinger Die Yet.” revealed themselves to be comedian G.L. DiVittorio.
Meanwhile, the cheeky Liza Minnelli Outlives account also got in on the fun.
Kissinger’s acts in power led to some of the most violent regimes in the world taking over. The bombing in Cambodia paved the way for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, his policies toward Iran brought the Persian state’s fundamentalist movement to power, as the U.S. continued to decimate Vietnam. Many blame him for Pinochet’s rise in Chile.
Because of the reverence paid to him by the political class despite his massive death toll, the online class took a different tact, pointing out the death toll of his life’s work, believing no one was more deserving of the scythe.
People relished in even the minor indignities he might suffer now that he’s left this Earth.
“Get rekt, Kissinger, you will never get to know who wins the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament,” joked one user.
The mood on social media could be summed up in one BlueSky post.
“Is it possible to fly a flag at twice staff?”
