In light of the recent presidential election shakeup, the creators of the HBO comedy series Veep seem to have called it.
Veep premiered in April 2012 and ran for seven seasons, winning many prestigious TV accolades along the way, including six consecutive Emmys for its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played protagonist Selina Meyer, a female Vice President representing an undisclosed political party.
The political satire centered on Selina's social and political life, including a pivotal moment when she unexpectedly runs for US President after the fictitous commander-in-chief steps down from running for a second White House term.
Art imitated life on Sunday when Democratic President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race on Sunday for a second term after mounting calls to step down from congressional Democrats who expressed concerns about his waning mental acuity to lead the country for another four years.
Following his announcement, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on former Republican President Donald Trump.
The momentous turn of events wasn't lost on fans of Veep, and they thought its creators manifested the storyline into existence.
Many wound up calling Veep a "documentary" following Biden's announcement that he was ending his presidential run and encouraging the nation to unite in backing his endorsement of Harris.
A famous scene from the finale of the show's second season in which Selina tells her closest advisors with bated breath, “I’m not leaving. POTUS is leaving," went viral.
After an outburst of applause from her staff, the character continues:
"He’s not going to run for a second term. I’m gonna run. I’m gonna run for president!”
You can watch the viral clip here.
In response to the viral hype, the show’s creator, Armando Iannucci, weighed in by reminding fans that the show was still a work of fiction.
"Don’t forget we made all that up, though," wrote Iannucci, in response to a fan who tracked Selina's political trajectory and eventual demise.
And when another user noted that Iannucci is "continuing to predict our political reality," the Emmy-winning writer cheekily replied:
"Still working on the ending."
Fans continued having fun with the show's blurred line between fact and fiction.
While some loose parallels from the show are there, Selina is not exactly an affable character—though her exploits are riotously fun to watch.
Still, Harris praised Louis-Dreyfus' speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention and wrote on X:
".@OfficialJLD, veep to veep, you're crushing it!"
In light of recent events in the West Wing, Veep prompted renewed interest and a surge in viewership from first-time viewers and fans wanting to revisit the show.
All seven seasons of Veep are available for streaming on Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
