'Many criticize him (but...)'

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About

'Many criticize him, but under him X were placed where they belonged: Y' refers to a series of snowclone memes which assert the idea that while a specific figure may have drawn criticism, that person was at least right in their treatment of a specific group.

Origin

In November of 2023, user air_walks posted the first known iteration of this meme^[1] onto the Left-Communist irony subreddit r/ultraleft, gathering 265 upvotes. It featured a picture of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev with the caption:

Many Criticize him // But Under Him Maoists were placed where belonged: MENTAL ASYLUM

Spread

In May of 2024, the same image was reposted by X / Twitter user @DrewPavlou^[2]. It was later reposted again by several users on X / Twitter and Reddit in June of the same year, further contributing to its spread. During that time, it spawned a series of parodies, mostly centred around various other historical heads of state.