US politician dabs, officially kills dabbing

If you do not know what dabbing is, do not take a lesson from Loretta Sanchez.

She’s a California congresswoman vying for a seat in the US Senate at the upcoming election. On Wednesday night, she debated her rival — and for some reason closed her remarks with the infamous dance move.

For the benefit of the very elderly/out of touch: dabbing is when you stick out one arm, then put your face into the crook of your other elbow. Kind of like you’re trying cover up a sneeze.

The move’s origins are a bit of a mystery, but it’s thought it started on the Atlanta rap scene in 2015. (Rapper Bow Wow claimed dabbing mimics the cough from smoking a particularly strong blend of weed,  which he was solidly mocked for.)

The dab exploded when US footballers started doing it en masse early this year and it took off on social media, and the key part of that phrase is “early this year”. No one is (unironically) dabbing now. Which is why Sanchez’s dab is so… weird.

It’s possible she did it to gain traction over her rival, fellow Democrat and California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is tipped to win the Senate race.

Harris seemed as baffled and amused as everyone else by the unexpected dab:

Sanchez is yet to comment on the dab, though The Los Angeles Times reports that her spokesman tweeted that it explains “why Millennials support [her] for Senate”. Because if there’s one things Millennials love, it’s ageing memes. Damn Daniel!