HBO’s political satire “Veep” may now be influencing actual politics.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and one of his deputies were both using the phrase “continuity and change” on Monday — a catchphrase that is nearly identical to the “Continuity With Change” campaign slogan of President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) on “Veep.”
Their comments came after former Prime Minister Tony Abbott accused Turnbull, who is up for re-election, of running on Abbott’s administration’s record. The current PM pushed back against the claim, saying, “The bottom line is there is continuity and there is change,” according to Australian broadcaster ABC.
The “continuity and change” line was also repeated by his employment minister, Michaelia Cash, when asked about Abbott’s comments, which caused the similarities to be picked up by several media outlets. The slogan first popped up in a Season 4 episode of “Veep” on HBO last May, when Meyer was running for election.
“Veep” writer and producer Simon Blackwell said that they settled on the “continuity with change” line because it was “the most meaningless election slogan we could think of.”
As for the woman behind the catchphrase, Louis-Dreyfus tweeted Tuesday that she was “dumbstruck” by the instance of life imitating art.