Hey, ​@Kayle 

You can send a GIF on live chat, however it will be sent as a file, not as you expected.

You can vote for this happen here: 

Let me know if this helps and if you have further questions  

Hi. Thank you for your response.  So to be clear, there is no way to include a GIF in a WhatsApp automation now?  
 

I’ve seen some chatter that suggests it might be possible if I first save in in “Files”.  If that’s the case, I’d gladly do it that way, but only if it’s inserted and open in the message (not as a file attachment that must be clicked on).

Thanks again for your quick response.  I did vote for the feature as you suggested.

The only way is to send a video file, ​@Kayle. But not as a GIF, but as a video.
Something like this:
 

You’ll need to convert the GIF to mp4/3GP.

About media on WhatsApp: https://help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281167455388-Media-guidelines-for-Facebook-Messenger-WhatsApp-and-Instagram-automations