A properly timed shoulder-shimmy can speak a thousand words.
When Hillary Clinton smiled, let out a “Whoo,” and shook off Donald Trump’s accusation that she lacked a presidential temperament during the first US presidential debate on Sept. 26, she instantly earned a spot in the highlight reel of this election’s iconic moments. It was a gesture that said, “That’s a whole lot of hot air, Donald, but you’re not getting to me. Let’s dance, partner, let’s dance.” Who among us hasn’t longed for just such a breezy response to a loudmouthed bully?
Now, the next time we encounter the blustering Trump in our lives, we’ll have a catchy little tune to sing to ourselves, too. Songwriter Jonathan Mann‘s “The Hillary Clinton Shimmy Song” imagines the Democratic candidate’s inner monologue during the debate:
This dude is coming at me
I just smile and let him be
The dude brought his own rope
He put the bullet in the gun so
I’m just gonna shimmy
The video, which has racked up over 340,000 views since it was posted on YouTube Sept. 28, also notes that Clinton’s frankly unimpressed expression in the face of Trump’s bluster has a lot in common with the long-suffering stare mastered by the hero of the NBC sitcom The Office:
He just keeps on shouting ‘Wrong’
So I will get my Jim Halpert on
Let Clinton’s confidence serve as a reminder to us all: Some insults aren’t even worth dignifying with an eyeroll. Just take a deep breath and shimmy on.