Has anything good ever come from white face paint and a red nose? Clowns have always occupied a particularly strange slice of pop culture. For decades, their role in our society has been debated: Are they joyful, terrifying, a meme, a vehicle for Joaquin Phoenix to win an Oscar? Some vouch for clowns as kids' birthday party entertainers, while others will forever associate them with Pennywise, the demonic child killer who lives in a sewer. To say there's a divide would be an understatement.

But it appears, as of 2020, we've firmly settled on "clown" as an insult. Its place in the pantheon of disses was solidified in September, when former Vice President Joe Biden referred to President Trump as a "clown" twice in the first presidential debate. Amid several interruptions from Trump, Biden said, "Well, it's hard to get any word in with this clown." He then corrected himself, adding, "Excuse me, this person." At another point, while debating healthcare policy, Biden turned to the camera and asked, "Folks, do you have any idea what this clown's doing? Do you?"