The Texas Republican Party created a viral moment in all the wrong ways at their convention when they brought a live elephant out to promote Gov. Greg Abbott's re-election campaign — and it began to urinate loudly and dramatically on the floor.
The incident prompted a predictable round of mockery from commenters on social media.
"Governor Abbott closed out his speech at the Texas GOP convention with a live elephant. It then peed on the floor as it left the room. The perfect metaphor for the Texas Republican Party," posted the official account for the Texas Democratic Party.
"The elephant turned the entire convention into a gender neutral Bathroom," wrote the "Organizermemes" account.
"Elephants are smart. Not sure what to tell you," wrote conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller.
Not everyone had a witty quip to offer, though. Many others, including some conservatives, were angry about the way the GOP was mistreating the elephant.
"Good for the elephant. It’s probably overwhelmed and anxious," wrote former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. staffer Link Lauren. "Leave animals out of this stuff. I love my people in the Texas GOP. My home state. But this is a bad look. Not necessary."
"Fascist republicans were parading around an elephant at the Texas GOP convention and it urinated all over the floor after racist murderous scumbag Greg Abbott’s propaganda speech," wrote singer-songwriter Ricky Davila. "Hurray for the Elephant and (expletive) you to the evil bastards who used that majestic animal as a prop."
Perhaps the most furious response came from HuffPost's Yashar Ali.
"Putting an elephant into a convention hall like this is torturing it beyond the full comprehension of any human being, because we do not possess the sensory capabilities elephants do," wrote Ali. "Elephants have the strongest sense of smell in the animal kingdom. They can smell WATER from many miles away. Now imagine putting this poor elephant into an enclosed space with thousands of people, perfume, food, sweat, cleaning products, flooring, and equipment. This elephant was hit with a massive wall of biological information and sensory overload that we cannot begin to understand."
"Elephants also sense sound and vibration through their FEET, not just their ears," he added. "In the wild, they can communicate with each other from miles away just by sensing communication through their feet. Now imagine what that elephant is experiencing in a convention hall: thousands of human footsteps, sound systems, equipment, metal clanging, concrete, and more. A confusing hell. Finally, hard artificial surfaces, in this case the convention hall floor, are terrible for elephants."