When the fusty Senate majority leader picks up on a meme, it might be time to chill out and let it float into posterity. Less than a week after Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper gave the world “That’s a clown question, bro”—an instant classic in response to a Canadian reporter’s doltish question if the 19-year-old Harper would like a beer—the phrase was uttered today by none other than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

At a press conference earlier this afternoon, Roll Call’s Steven Dennis posed a question about Republican senators’ current stance on immigration reform. Reid did not feel like taking the query.

“I don’t want to answer that question,” Reid said. “That’s a clown question, bro.”

Who would have thought that the 72-year-old Reid was up on the latest memes? Well, for one thing, he’s got quite a bit in common with Harper. The Nationals’ rookie sensation, as a native of Las Vegas, was for much of his life (and might still be, officially) Reid’s constituent. They’re also both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

As the D.C. Sports Bog notes, this soundbite provides ample opportunity for all the political rags to make Harper references for the next 12 or 24 hours, by which point the “clown question” meme will have been flogged to death. Such is the hazard of having a high-profile politician pick up on an Internet trend. By this time tomorrow, mark our words, we will be suffering from Politico– and The Hill-induced clown-question fatigue. (To say nothing of the inevitable GIFs that BuzzFeed is surely cooking up right now.)

Still, this was a classic moment. Public radio reporter Todd Zwillich captured the audio, and below, courtesy of Reid’s office, is video of the hilarious exchange: