The Watertown Post meme
Watertown, NY — June 2025
A meme circulating across group chats and Facebook feeds in Watertown is doing more to explain the city’s political split than any city council debate ever could. It shows Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attempting to solve a math problem involving a string of 8’s, with the caption mocking her inability to calculate Watertown’s 50/50 presidential vote between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The message? The math doesn’t lie — but some folks sure try to.
While it’s got people laughing, it’s also hitting a nerve.
In 2024, Watertown split nearly evenly between Harris and Trump. Dead even. Red vs. Blue. MAGA vs. whatever Harris was offering. It was a town divided — right down the middle. And yet, here we are in 2025, watching a city council primary where all but one of the candidates voted for Kamala Harris.
All men.
The only woman running in the council primary? She voted for Donald J. Trump. Let that sink in.
So much for “diversity,” huh?
The meme lands because it cuts through the phony math of local politics. Somehow, a city that’s half conservative has nearly all progressive-friendly candidates on the ballot — men, no less — who openly supported the Harris ticket. Meanwhile, the only Trump voter in the race — and the only woman — gets treated like the outsider.
The smart money knows what’s going on. The meme doesn’t just highlight the absurdity of AOC’s political logic — it shines a light on a city establishment that’s more interested in toeing the national Democratic line than representing the full spectrum of its own voters.
In a town like Watertown, where Trump flags still fly on porches and people still say “Merry Christmas” without fear of cancellation, the idea that only one Trump-supporting candidate made it to the primary ballot feels less like democracy — and more like a fix.
So maybe the meme’s not just funny — maybe it’s a warning.
Because Watertown doesn’t need more chalkboard scribblers explaining why your vote doesn’t count. It needs leaders who understand real math — and real people.
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