Democracy Dies in Darkness

Why Pepe the Frog’s Nazi phase doesn’t worry his creator

Analysis by
Freelance reporter
September 14, 2016 at 1:01 p.m. EDT

Pepe the Frog began life as a relatable, early 20s slacker for the readers of Matt Furie’s mid-2000s comic series. Then, Pepe became one of the Internet’s best memes, a smiling frog face that embodied the phrase, “feels good, man.” Pepe has been a lot of things over the past decade, but something dark has happened to the frog recently. More and more these days, he’s wearing an impossible head of Trump-like blondish hair, and hanging out with white supremacists.