XPost: rec.puzzles, alt.usage.english
From: HenHanna@NewsGrouper

On 27/06/2025 15:58, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> Right from the beginning, the publication of The Selfish Gene in 1977, I
> have not felt that "meme" was Richard Dawkins's happiest invention, and
> it's a term I never use. Nonetheless, I have a clear idea of what it
> means. Very recently, however, I've started to see it used to mean just
> about anything. For example, the Norwegian who was denied entry to the
> land of the free when a examination of his telephone revealed an
> unflattering cartoon of the vice-POTUS that was reported as a meme. Is
> that what "meme" means nowadays? If so, why?
 >


       Short Ans:  i suppose it was never  [reported as a meme]

                 He claimed that he was denied entry because of a Meme on his
phone.


________________________


         A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist named Mads Mikkelsen claimed he was
denied entry to the United States at Newark Liberty International Airport
after U.S. border officials examined his phone and found an unflattering meme
of Vice President JD 
Vance. The meme reportedly depicted Vance as a bald or chubby baby, and
Mikkelsen believed this was the reason for his exclusion. His story gained
traction in Norwegian and international media.

         However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of
Homeland Security have publicly refuted this claim. They stated that Mikkelsen
was denied entry not because of the meme, but because he admitted to past drug
use during 
questioning—a reason that can legally bar entry under U.S. immigration law.
Officials emphasized that "political reasons" or the meme itself played no
role in the decision.

In summary:

         Mads Mikkelsen, a Norwegian tourist, alleged he was denied entry due
to a meme of Vice President JD Vance found on his phone.

         U.S. officials deny this, stating the actual reason was his admitted
drug use, not the meme or its political content.

________________________________


         Mads Mikkelsen, the Norwegian tourist, admitted to U.S. border
authorities that he had experimented with marijuana—specifically, he
disclosed having used marijuana once in Germany and once in Mexico. Although
he believed this was irrelevant 
because marijuana was legal in those countries, U.S. officials cited his
acknowledged drug use as the reason for denying him entry, since marijuana
remains prohibited at the federal level in the United States

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