The 'I Hear You' note meme originated from a photograph taken during a 2018 White House listening session following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. President Donald Trump was captured holding a cue card with several talking points, the fifth one being a handwritten reminder to say 'I hear you.' The image quickly went viral as social media users found the scripted nature of empathy to be both ironic and humorous. Since then, the template has been widely used to satirize insincere politicians, corporate buzzwords, and everyday situations where someone has to remind themselves to act compassionate or attentive.