The 'Please Clap' meme originates from a February 2016 campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. After delivering a passionate speech about foreign policy to a quiet audience in Hanover, New Hampshire, Bush paused for an applause that never came, leading him to awkwardly request, 'Please clap.' The moment quickly went viral as a symbol of his struggling campaign and has since become a universal shorthand for desperation, social awkwardness, and the failure of a joke or statement to land. Internet users frequently use the template to mock situations where someone tries too hard to garner validation or when a highly anticipated reveal is met with complete silence.