“Kamala IS brat”: Harris has already become an internet phenomenon

For weeks before US President Joe Biden decided not to run for re-election in November, fans of Vice President Kamala Harris had created memes – internet jokes – promoting her as an alternative to her boss.

And when Biden made his announcement on Sunday, it set off a tsunami of memes and engagement in Harris’ favor.

But it all started, as any good summer should, with coconuts.

Coconut trees

Last year, Harris spoke at a White House event on education. Then she quoted something her mother often said in her childhood.

– She reprimanded us a few times and she said to us: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. Do you think you just fell off a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all that is now and all that came before you,” Harris said.

The strange quote – “you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” – along with video clips of her dancing, her sometimes awkward laugh and some of her other slightly funny anecdotes, became a summary of how the internet saw Kamala Harris.

Took action

But after Biden’s disastrous televised debate against Donald Trump on June 27, many began to worry that he was simply too old to be president, and calls for his resignation continued.

Then Harris’ fans – who call themselves the KHive – took action. Social media creators edited videos of her speeches and dances and posted them on video app Tiktok, and palm emojis were suddenly everywhere.

Washington bars, always quick to capitalize on political talk, began serving coconut-themed drinks.

Embraced by politicians

Another of Harris’ philosophically inclined statements, one she constantly repeats that “what may come, is not encumbered by what has been”, was also raised. But when Biden announced that he was not running for re-election and that he was supporting Harris as a presidential candidate, the jokes were no longer ironic – they were embraced by politicians who wanted to show support for Harris.

– Madam Vice President, we are ready to help, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz wrote to a photo of a man climbing a coconut tree.

– Do you think I just fell out of a coconut tree?, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote shortly after ruling himself out as a presidential candidate and declaring his support for Harris.

Engaging young people

The meme fever that reigns around Harris opens the door for her to be able to do something that Biden struggled with – namely to engage younger voters. The Biden election campaign tried to create engagement by joking about the Republican nickname for Biden, “Dark Brandon”, but many think the posts appeared as an attempted attempt to reach the young.

– Harris’ efforts will probably come across as more authentic, perhaps even funny, writes Charlie Warzer in The Atlantic.

But it is difficult to take the pulse of the internet, where people quickly move on to the next big thing. Harris must therefore tread carefully if she wants to use the internet uproar to her advantage and win votes from the young.

«Kamala IS brat»

However, the first attempt by the Harris camp to do just that appears to have succeeded. The X account of her election campaign, Kamala HQ changed the cover image to a lime green logo inspired by the album cover of artist Charli XCX’s new album “BRAT”.

The album, which was released in June, has been a huge success. Charli XCX has defined a ‘brat’ as a girl who’s a bit rough, likes to party and might say some stupid things sometimes – inspiring fans to declare they have a ‘brat buzzer’.

Although none of those things can really be associated with the groomed Kamala Harris, Charli XCX has nevertheless given the vice president a vote of confidence and declared on X at « kamala IS brat ». Although the word bastard itself is not positively charged, the declaration from the artist is to be counted as praise.

– This tweet will reach more young people than a TV commercial worth a million dollars, writes a user on X in response to Charli XCX.

Uncharted waters

– The Brat vote is secured, 27-year-old congressman Maxwell Frost votes in.

The upcoming presidential election is still in uncharted waters, but it all signals a broader generational shift as Biden passes the baton on – and 78-year-old Trump is suddenly the oldest candidate to become president.

As Slate writer Mark Stern writes on X:

– The Republicans who happily saw Biden being harassed on Tiktok for the past year, now realize with horror that they cannot stop the meme machines from turning Kamala into a “brat” icon this summer.