The country’s Information Minister attempted some Orwellian double-speak, telling reporters that Mugabe had managed to break the fall, and cited other “examples of leaders who have stumbled, from Jesus to George W. Bush,” the AP reported.

A video clearly showed Mugabe hitting the ground:

Zimbabwe is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to press freedoms, ranking 135 out of 185 in Reporters Without Borders’ World Freedom of the Press Index. But like elsewhere on the continent, mobile phones and internet penetration are giving Zimbabweans the opportunity to evade free speech restrictions. And this incident demonstrates that, despite attempts at regulating online media, not even a notorious strongman is immune from the power of the meme.

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