Why Third Amendment memes are suddenly taking over social media

The First and Second amendments are the rock stars of the Bill of Rights. Everybody knows about them, even if they’re not always big fans, and they frequently pop up in national discourse. The Third Amendment, on the other hand, is more like the Yngwie Malmsteen of the Bill of Rights. Much like that Swedish neoclassical metal guitarist, relatively few people know about the Third Amendment, but those who do tend to be effusive about it.

Now, though, thanks to President Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests against a recent immigration crackdown in the downtown area, the esoteric cult of Third-heads is celebrating on social media this week. Their enthusiasm—and the memes fueled by it—are lending this obscure amendment some rock star swagger.

For the uninitiated, the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” In other words, it protects citizens from ever having to prepare blow-up mattresses and fresh towels for heavily armed houseguests at the behest of the federal government.

X and Bluesky users started invoking the Third Amendment as National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles, uninvited by California Governor Gavin Newsom. (It was the first time in 60 years that a president deployed troops in the U.S. without a request from a state’s governor.) Once news spread that troops had entered the city—at a taxpayer cost of $134 million—with only minimal preparation and supplies, forcing them to sleep on floors, social media went berserk.

One strain of posting focuses on the deep-cut nature of this amendment and the rarity of its usage. Some social media users are noting the foresight of the founding fathers, and resurfacing an old John Mulaney bit that succinctly summarizes the Third Amendment as “The army can’t stay at ya house.” 

Others are noting the celestial-event-like power of the amendment’s fresh relevance, and how it has transformed those rare Third Amendment scholars into in-demand experts at the moment. (Clear your schedule, professor Leonard Niehoff!) Not only will that expertise shed light on how the amendment applied in the past, it could also come in handy during any potential SCOTUS cases about how the amendment should be used in the future—a prospect some observers seem perhaps a little too giddy about.

The vast majority of this wave of Third-posting comes from users on Bluesky and X who find it hysterical both that soldiers would even want to stay at their apartment, and that there is a law expressly prohibiting it. They’re celebrating the Third Amendment’s newfound relevance by either imagining politely declining a soldier’s request to commandeer their bedroom, or by offering a tongue-in-cheek plea for proud patriots to bring in a stray soldier today. 

A lot of these posts tend to rely on classic macro formats, like the Undertaker standing behind AJ Styles, with the amendment itself embodying some aspect of the meme.

Coincidentally, an unrelated Third Amendment meme about not letting one’s military boyfriend stay overnight had been circulating on TikTok since last fall, when the initial video scored 9 million views. There is an earlier and more relevant precedent to the current crop of memes, though. Back in 2020, governors across America requested troops to help contain the protests around George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police. Users of X, then called Twitter, quickly started cracking jokes about the long-awaited utility of the Third Amendment finally coming into play. The Onion’s Twitter account even took the occasion as a chance to revive a headline originally shared in 2007: “Third Amendment Rights Group Celebrates Another Successful Year.”

Considering that Trump has promised to use “very heavy force” against protesters during the upcoming military parade on June 14 to celebrate his birthday, these memes will likely continue having a place to stay on social media in the near future.