Aides to Robert Mugabe tried to order photographers to delete images of the Zimbabwe president tripping and falling to the ground after a speech at Harare Airport Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe government went even further and denied that the fall ever happened.
Of course photos and videos of the incident emerged, and the social media world exploded in ridicule of the entire ordeal. Several memes of Mugabe’s fall have gone viral.
Uncle Bob Mugabe has earned a spot on the next season of 'Dancing With The Stars'. • @DancingABC #DWTS #MugabeFalls pic.twitter.com/v9ZcIbawdz
— Michael Kirkpatrick (@OtimMichael) February 4, 2015
3. The 90 Year old President of Zimbabwe, #MugabeFalls. #MugabeNeverFalls! He's just chasing the playa.. pic.twitter.com/HFwZ2xDTex
— Spiwo kzn (@Spiwo) February 4, 2015
OK, so I just had to make one too: The Neverending Dictatorship #MugabeFalls pic.twitter.com/1VEYjy2bNo
— griffin (@watkykjy) February 5, 2015
Y'all gotta stop now. pic.twitter.com/IWPzKGQ7nx
— #TheLinkUp28Feb (@UnDEANiable) February 4, 2015
Honestly Robert there was more than enough space on that door for both of you #MugabeFalls pic.twitter.com/O1uEXc8XGA
— Kelly Anderson (@kelchristine_) February 5, 2015
You dirty old man #MugabeFalls #BreakTheInternet pic.twitter.com/MQ2tRTFs48
— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) February 5, 2015
Yo lmao. Guys are quick. Mugabe hasn't even put GV on his wounds and folks have made all these memes? #MugabeFalls pic.twitter.com/FlFv53ZkFk
— KB (@djkillbill) February 4, 2015
Zimbabwe’s Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, told the Zimbabwe Herald the government’s official account of the mishap:
“The misrepresentations and morbid celebrations of the incident by malcontents is the real news here and not the alleged fall as there was none. What happened is that the President tripped over a hump on the carpet on one of the steps of the dais as he was stepping down from the platform but he remarkably managed to break the fall on his own. I repeat that the President managed to break the fall. Nobody has shown any evidence of the President having fallen down because that did not happen.”
Despite Zimbabwe’s denial and Mugabe’s tyrannical requests to have all evidence of the fall vanished, the memes and leaked footage are a good indicator of what actually happened.