From misko's link:
There is no real evidence that memes won the election, but there is little question they changed its tone, especially in the fast-moving and influential currents of social media. The meme battalions created a mass of pro-Trump iconography as powerful as the Obama “Hope” poster and far more adaptable; they relentlessly drew attention to the tawdriest and most sensational accusations against Clinton, forcing mainstream media outlets to address topics—like conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health—that they would otherwise ignore. And they provoked a variety of real-world reactions, from Clinton’s August speech denouncing the alt-right to the Anti-Defamation League’s designation of Pepe as a hate symbol to—after the election—the armed assault on a Washington pizzeria wrongly believed to be hiding sex slaves.
That's why I have no problem saying they meme'D a sack of shit into office. All the focus groups and professional campaign management in the world vs a bored internet hate machine which found the idea of Trump in office so amusing they threw who knows how much time and effort into it?
I suppose more accurately it could be said that without the extra buffer of normality applied by all the absurd shit you had political commentators discussing, on top of Trump playing along with the memes while Hillary just got mad at cartoon frogs and cringed away from them, it would have been a far larger popular vote loss, and the electoral college falling in his favor under those conditions would be even less likely than it already was.
Memes and trolling are powerful shit, I don't know why the idea of a nationwide popularity contest in the age of everywhere-internet couldn't be influenced by them seems more plausible than the alternative--especially when one side capitalized on the free propaganda/campaigning/marketing while the other side got trolled and tried to ignore it before losing--but there it is.
Look at the Obama and Paul campaigns, I mean, seriously, who the fuck is Ron Paul? Some shmuck
Libertarian? Up against the goddamn charming persona of Obama he's just a kooky old white dude. The internet was behind him, but they didn't get as passionate, and didn't pursue it as hard as they did this last election so they weren't even able to put him on top of the pile of other kooky old white dudes, much less beat the booming voice of Barry.
Clinton... well, you can feel free to go back through any post I've made and check, but I'll save you the trouble: when I defended her, it was for the good she has done, causes she's fought for, and her general assurance of competency. Sadly she doesn't have a fraction of the charm Bill has. Not to say Trump is charming, maybe to a nearsighted gila monster, but in the battle between "I think it would be neat if a candidate like this won" and "I really think it would be hilarious if this candidate won" you aren't going to get the same returns as you would from "I honestly like and feel inspired by this candidate" against either of those.