White House calls Harambe a "True Patriot"

Ten years after Harambe's death shocked the internet and turned the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla into one of the world's biggest memes, the White House has now joined the conversation.
Text: Marcus Persson
Published 2026-05-28

It has been ten years since Harambe was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child managed to sneak into his enclosure. The incident became a global phenomenon, and now the White House has marked the anniversary with a social media post describing the gorilla as a "true patriot."

The post reads:

"Everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news. And somehow, a decade later, his legacy still lives on. Gone, but never forgotten. Rest easy, true patriot."

In the years following the incident, Harambe became a recurring phenomenon on the internet, where people joked freely with memes, tributes, and discussions about zoos and safety. One might wonder, however, why an official government social media account has now chosen to highlight the phenomenon.

<social>https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2059779450275864710</social>

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