Michael J. Fox Is Trending and People Are Terrified

There are some constants in the world of social media -- new memes, awkward arguments, and a deep sense of existential dread when you see that a celebrity's name is "trending". On Monday night, Twitter got a big dose of the latter in an unexpected way, when actor and philanthropist Michael J. Fox was among the main Trending Topics on the platform. While it isn't always the case, people often assume that a person will be trending for two reasons -- either that they've died or are critically injured, or are embroiled in some kind of scandal.

As it turns out, none of that was the case with Fox, who became a trending topic for multiple reasons. The first was in response to Rush Limbaugh's recent cancer diagnosis, which led some to call out a 2006 video where Limbaugh repeatedly argued that Fox was faking his Parkinson's disease.

Another reason appears to be Fox's recent endorsement of Pete Buttigieg for President of the United States, something that he confirmed in a video the day prior.

NEW: Actor, writer, and activist @RealMikeFox endorses @PeteButtigieg.

“I can’t think of a bigger contrast between this president and the president Pete will be. He’s not in it for himself. He’s in it for us." pic.twitter.com/iebDMy2hlk

— Team Pete HQ (@PeteForAmerica) February 2, 2020

Outside of those two events, it also seems like fans are using the trending topic as an excuse to celebrate the actor's career -- or to express confusion that he's even trending in the first place. So if you're among those people, you can read on and rest assured that you're not alone.