Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wasn’t messing around during a House Financial Services Committee hearing Thursday when she confronted Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin with a procedural interruption that has now gone viral.
When Waters asked Mnuchin why his office had not responded to a letter from her office regarding President Trump’s financial ties to Russian banks, Mnuchin prefaced his direct response to the question with a series of formalities — mostly compliments to Waters. Waters, however, was clearly wary that Mnuchin might be stalling in order to avoid answering the question, and repeatedly attempted to redirect him by insisting that she was “reclaiming my time” — a phrase rooted in House floor procedure that has since swept the internet.
“We don’t want to take my time up with how great I am,” Waters said when Mnuchin tried to begin by complimenting her. When Mnuchin insisted he had been attempting to answer the question, Waters continued to press him to actually do so, repeating the “reclaiming my time” refrain.
Waters has been outspoken in her opposition to the Trump administration — indeed, she was calling for his impeachment as early as February. As a de facto leader of the anti-Trump resistance, Waters has become a bit of a rallying point for progressives in recent months, and her words to Mnuchin quickly became an internet meme among women, minorities, and anyone else who’s run out of time to waste and fucks to give.
"Reclaiming My Time," the story of a people. pic.twitter.com/ZRlHNbQamt
— deray mckesson (@deray) July 28, 2017
Reclaiming My Time: a Collection of Essays on Black Women Who are Sick of White Men's Mediocrity
— Professor Boynton (@ADBoyntonII) July 28, 2017
“Reclaiming my time” quickly became a catchphrase for commentary on the Trump administration, racism, misogyny, and other progressive issues.
Push Alert: Trump just—
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) July 29, 2017
Me: RECLAIMING. MY. TIME.
Q: Isn't #NoConfederate censorship?
— heidi on deadline (@heidiheilig) July 31, 2017
A: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
Reclaiming your time. https://t.co/lPAYhUey4O
— Reclaiming My Time (@SoualiganAmazon) July 30, 2017
Scaramucci: So fucking stoked about my new job at wh—
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) July 31, 2017
Karma: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
But the meme can also be applied to just about everything — either as a general expression of empowerment or just as a general expression of hilarity.
A photo series of me reclaiming my time - thank you Auntie @MaxineWaters for the constant inspo & for taking no nonsense (see link in bio) pic.twitter.com/9Ex3gigvg2
— Yara shahidi (@YaraShahidi) July 29, 2017
Professor: And this is just a side note, it's not on the exam, but-
— Lauren Saxon (@Lsax_235) July 30, 2017
Me: RECLAIMING MY TIME. RECLAIMING MY TIIIMEE.
Me: Where do you see this going?
— TT ON THE MIC, B. A. (@_ttonthemic) July 30, 2017
Him: I'm just tryna chill-
Me: pic.twitter.com/Mb9fzQxUZO
The meme has also already spawned two incredible musical outgrowths — this remix of Waters’s interaction with Mnuchin by Adam Joseph, and this viral video by Mykal Kilgore.
This gospel version of Reclaiming My Time by @mykalkilgore deserves a Grammy pic.twitter.com/ABe7lt5vAL
— Reclaiming My Time (@BroderickGreer) July 30, 2017
For her part, Waters told MSNBC that she “could not believe” her phrase went viral. Her astonishment is likely due to the fact that her attempt to course-correct Mnuchin was, to her, a procedural part of the hearing.
She also stated that despite her efforts to keep the questioning on track, Mnuchin “absolutely stonewalled” her, pointing out that he didn’t fully answer all of her questions in the hearing about how he handles financial information regarding the Trump-Russia investigation.
However, those who’ve made the meme go viral seem less concerned about Waters’s unanswered questions; as far as they’re concerned, she made the most of her time.