‘Binders Full Of Women’ Memes Hit The Internet After Mitt Romney’s Presidential Debate Comment

Is Mitt Romney a human meme generator? The second presidential debate sparked many new online memes after his comment about having “binders full of women.”

Romney was answering a question about inequality in the workplace and fair pay for women after President Barack Obama cited the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Romney made the comment when he spoke about his time as governor of Massachusetts and how he intended to hire women in his cabinet.

“And -- and so we -- we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet,” Romney said. “I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.”

Shortly after the debate, the awkward phrase “binders full of women” exploded into a nationally trending topic and hash tag on Twitter that poked fun at Romney. BindersFullOfWomen.com was taken as a website almost immediately. Then, a Tumblr account called “Binders Full of Women” began cracking quips about the phrase, using “Trapper Keeper” as a pun for “trap her, keep her.” One meme played on the infamous scene from “Dirty Dancing” when Patrick Swayze utters, “No one puts Baby in the corner,” with “No one puts Baby in a binder.” Another poked fun at former President Bill Clinton: “Stop the debate. I want to hear more about this binder …”

The latest meme comes after Romney’s Big Bird comment in the first presidential debate, when he said he would cut funding for stations like PBS, which also started many online memes.

“I’m sorry Jim, I’m gonna stop the subsidy to PBS,” Romney said to debate moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS NewsHour. “I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not gonna keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”

The comment roused many, including the Democratic National Committee, to create campaigns attacking the Republican presidential candidate.

Even Big Bird got in on the meme, tweeting, “Injustice. Binders full of women sold for $0.77 at Staples. Binders full of men selling for $1.00.”