Chan culture is rarely if ever original and almost always reactionary. Its memes stick or are effective because they are created by reflecting some universal truth about the current reality instead of a niche inside joke. The clown pepe is a counter response to current outrage culture and journalism focusing on negativity and sensationalism. The irritation with information reporting and overreaction is not new, but the bemused apathetic reaction to the issue has found symbolic representation in a clown frog.
Honkler does go a step further in containing an inside joke as well. The Honk Honk! That accompanies the meme can be shortened to HH. But pointing out that a frog drawing in a clown outfit is using a catchphrase that could be interpreted as a slogan employed by Nazi worshippers makes the accuser come off as unhinged to the out of the loop majority.
So from what I gather honkler is the chaotic neutral version of pepe. Where pepe is always moody and sad, honkler is a happy troll who just loves being optimistic while NPC rivals are preaching gloom. Fighting the over-serious with silliness in classic 4chan style.