On February 27, 2017, Getty Images photographer Brendan Smialowski captured Conway seated on her knees on the Oval Office couch after she had taken a smartphone photo of President Trump posing with leaders of historically Black colleges and universities1. Conway was checking her phone in the aftermath of snapping the group shot, but the image, stripped of that context, looked like she had casually plopped down during a formal event6.

A second photograph taken by Aude Guerrucci showed Conway mid-motion, suggesting she had been positioning herself for the photo and hadn't simply decided to lounge6. But by the time that context surfaced, the first image was already everywhere.

The photo's viral life moved through several distinct phases in its first two weeks. The initial wave was pure outrage and mockery on Twitter, where users fixated on the juxtaposition of Conway's pose with the formality of the setting. Body language expert Joe Navarro told Quartz that Conway's posture appeared "boorish" in context, noting that the asymmetry between her casual pose and the solemnly standing crowd read as being "not of the same mindset"6.

Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens tweeted that "if Rice or Jarrett had sat like this in Oval Office conservatives would have screamed themselves hoarse for weeks. Now we own trashy"9. The photo landed at an already polarized political moment, and both sides weaponized it accordingly. Defenders compiled photos of Obama with his feet up on the Resolute Desk as a counter-argument10. CBS News noted this flap came just two weeks after a photo of Ivanka Trump sitting in her father's Oval Office chair had raised eyebrows3.

The meme phase kicked in hard once Reddit's r/photoshopbattles got hold of the image. Editors placed Conway on roller coasters, in famous paintings, floating through space, and alongside other meme figures. The clean silhouette of her kneeling pose made it easy to extract and paste into new contexts5.

Celebrity recreations followed. Actor Kal Penn posted a photo of himself mimicking Conway's pose on the set of ABC's *Designated Survivor*, captioning it "Kal-E-Anne"8. Comedian Jen Kirkman also posted a recreation. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, singer Vanessa Carlton, and actress Alyssa Milano all reacted publicly on social media8. Yahoo News asked if "Conwaying" might become "the new Tebowing"8.

On March 1, the meme took a darker turn when Representative Cedric Richmond (D-LA) made a sexually suggestive joke about Conway's pose at the Washington Press Club Foundation's 73rd annual congressional dinner. "She really looked kind of familiar in that position," he said, adding "Don't answer, and I don't want you to refer back to the 1990s"7. Chelsea Clinton publicly called the remark "despicable" and said Conway deserved an apology, which surprised observers given the political divide between the two families7. Conway thanked Clinton on Twitter, writing "As strong women, as moms to Charlottes... appreciate you speaking out on this"7.

Saturday Night Live capped the meme's cultural peak on March 4, 2017. Kate McKinnon appeared throughout the episode dressed as Conway, kneeling in various locations around Studio 8H. She showed up perched on the Weekend Update desk tapping at her phone, on the stage where musical guest Father John Misty was about to perform, and on a chair during a sketch with host Octavia Spencer and Keenan Thompson7. The recurring gag across the full episode, rather than a single sketch, showed how recognizable the pose had already become just five days after the photo dropped.