Someone at the White House is Either Very Bored or Losing a Videogame

It’s rare enough that anything interesting happens during a White House briefing, but there’s no reason to be mean about it. At the top of Tuesday’s White House daily press briefing, several dozen online viewers of the White House Live webcast of Press Secretary Josh Earnest‘s daily exercise in answering the same two questions 19 times were treated to a cryptic cry for help from whomever it is that handles the graphics for the briefing:

Although he appears to laugh on cue, Earnest can’t actually see the mysterious “ASFDASFASFDSDFA” that appeared at the bottom of the screen, only to be quickly replaced by the correct graphic.

As it turns out, the string of letters is a mildly popular internet meme that does have several meanings. The letters are the result of drumming your fingers on a sequential series of keys on a standard keyboard, and most commonly indicates boredom or anxiety, or a “Mayday!” cry for online gamers with only one free hand.

Anyone who’s had to sit through several hundred briefings, though, will tell you that it’s probably the former.

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