Leslie Knope Is Getting Credit From ‘Parks And Rec’ Fans Because ‘She Knew’ That Biden Would Be President

Leslie Knope‘s love for Joe Biden is damn near legendary. The Parks and Recreation character famously brought to life by Amy Poehler harbored a frequently-cited crush for the then-vice president during the show’s seven season run on NBC. In an amazing casting coup for the sitcom, Biden actually appeared on the show in the 2012 episode “Leslie vs. April,” and Leslie’s interaction with her deepest obsession launched a thousand GIFs as she struggled to compose herself before eventually being removed by the Secret Service while screaming “He is precious cargo!”

And it’s that classic scene that came roaring back to life on social media during Biden’s inauguration as Parks and Rec fans made “Leslie Knope” trend by claiming that she knew this day would come.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the “Leslie Knope knew” reactions to evolve into enjoying the thought of how Biden’s inauguration would feel for Leslie. Heck, after the past four years, who wouldn’t enjoy a day where Leslie Knope is trending instead of things like insurrection or #RIGGED?

https://twitter.com/rosasknope/status/1351923682227212288

After looking at these reactions, it really drives home how synonymous Poehler is with Leslie Knope who almost missed out on the iconic role. Back in December, Parks and Rec creator Mike Schur revealed how NBC wanted to debut the show after the 2009 Super Bowl, but there was a major problem. Poehler was pregnant with her first child and was due to give birth right as the show needed to start filming its pilot. Schur said they could’ve recast, but he told Literally! With Robe Lowe that he made the “insane” decision of asking NBC to shorten the first season order and wait three months. “We just kept feeling that debuting after the Super Bowl is a short-term fix,” Schur said. “Getting Amy Poehler on the show is the long-term solution.”