The internet has a surprising new muse: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Powell is famously mild-mannered. About four times a year, he emerges from meetings with Federal Reserve governors and regional bank presidents to hold press conferences on their analysis of jobs data, inflation reports, and subsequent interest rate projections (the infamous “dot plot”).
Not exactly typical fodder for going viral. But on Monday, after Powell released a video saying he’d been subpoenaed by the Justice Department as part of a pressure campaign, he started getting the meme treatment.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy,” Powell said in Sunday’s two-minute video. “But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.”
Social media thought it was a banger.
Here are some of the notable reactions so far:
In this house, Jerome Powell is a herohttps://t.co/VNfAnNCan3 pic.twitter.com/B6LRbKBD7D
— Boring_Business (@BoringBiz_) January 12, 2026
https://t.co/gHat9QbklK pic.twitter.com/IPxgoITbyx
— Organizermemes (@OrganizerMemes) January 12, 2026
You know things are bad when the most boring person doing the most boring job for decades has to come out and say, “Stop trying to arrest us for doing math” https://t.co/3YCfPBFIae
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) January 12, 2026
Jerome Powell walking to the office this morning pic.twitter.com/wYibAekAmy
— Not Jerome Powell (@alifarhat79) January 12, 2026
Marco Rubio finding out he has to be chairman of the Federal Reserve pic.twitter.com/Ajzro16AuS
— Robert Sterling (@RobertMSterling) January 12, 2026
WE ARE JEROME POWELL! pic.twitter.com/faTyYRcXLa
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) January 12, 2026
No the Resistance is fine, I just didn’t realize it would be lead by Jerome Powell https://t.co/JJvzkmylOo
— ferald gord (@ferald_gord) January 12, 2026
President Donald Trump has called on Powell, whose term doesn’t end until May 2026, to lower interest rates more quickly. Powell has refused and insisted on the Fed’s independence. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to fire Powell.
The president denied any involvement in the DOJ investigation in an interview with NBC on Monday. “I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump said.
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