NBC Reporter Laughs Off Meme Status Over Shooting

An NBC News reporter's live reaction to gunshots near the White House over the weekend has turned her into a meme, and Julie Tsirkin is OK with the joke. This began when NBC posted a clip of a puzzled Tsirkin asking, "What is that?" as the gunshots erupted while she was taping a segment, reports Mediaite. "Sounds like fireworks," a cameraman is heard saying, per the Daily Beast. Tsirkin repeated her question and stared toward the direction of the noise. Very quickly, users started superimposing Tsirkin's confused "What is that?" line over all kinds of goofy things, like here, here, and here.

"I'm glad I could take one for the team," Tsirkin posted on X, noting that Saturday Night Live is on break. The photo showed her at her computer in front of one of the meme images. "If the internet is going to meme my reaction to the second shooting I have witnessed and covered in four weeks, ok!!!," she wrote. "Hope you'll stay for the reporting…" Tsirkin was at the White House correspondents' dinner weeks ago when shots rang out, and she said she immediately dove for cover. This time, however, she said didn't register the noise as gunshots at first. ABC reporter Selina Wang scrambled for cover right away.