Corners of the internet collided this week as Kamala Harris’s campaign to be the Democratic nominee for president took off. The sometimes incomprehensible absurdity that makes virality blew new air into what was turning into an uninspiring electoral season. Kamala’s folksy, unscripted comments regarding “the context” and coconut trees have propelled her into the arms of Gen Z voters. Her “memification” was complete when cultural phenomenon and pop singer, Charli xcx tweeted “Kamala IS brat”. Her campaign moved with expert rapidity, changing the header image on their X account to the now-familiar neon lime green graphics resembling the Charli xcx “Brat” album cover.
Many folks were left scratching their heads and asking Gen Z colleagues and family what it all meant. While “brat” may be hard to explain without a deep dive into the zeitgeist that often appears to only exist on “X” (formerly known as Twitter), already numerous news outlets from all over the world have tried to give it a shot.
Political commentators everywhere were seemingly unprepared for the oxymoronic clash of pop culture moments that grips those most Chronically Online. When British pop phenomenon Charli xcx released her latest album last month, its chartreuse aesthetic, messaging, and party beats launched what is now being called “brat summer”. Seized upon mainly by the LGBTQI+ community, Charli xcx’s album was already proving to be the soundtrack to any summer party worth going to. According to a TikTok by Charli xcx, brat is “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who like feels herself but then maybe has a breakdown but parties through it.” Kamala Harris is obviously not “brat” in the strictest sense of the term but she does seem to embody an insecurity meshed with ambition, put upon by the societal pressures that face all women, especially those in the limelight (no pun intended) and in positions of power. But still seem to be able to chuckle along the way. As described in an Atlantic piece by Spencer Kornhaber, Charli xcx’s album “[urges us] to consider the tensions inherent in modern feminism’s simultaneous encouragement of careerism and sisterly solidarity”, identifying the struggle faced by too many women today.
why did I stay up till 3am making a von dutch brat coconut tree edit featuring kamala harris and why can’t I stop watching it on repeat pic.twitter.com/hqcmerD1Pb
— ryan (@ryanlong03) July 3, 2024
In February, a video resurfaced featuring comments made by Harris in May of the previous year at a White House event focused on opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Recalling her mother’s words, she emphasized that “none of us live in a silo” and famously asked the young people of America, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” The video was initially circulated by Republicans attempting to make fun of her seemingly nonsensical turn of phrase, but fans were quick to turn the message on its head, turning the Coconut Tree into a symbol of her campaign. The Internet leaped onto the bandwagon, turning quirky soundbites into video mashups with clips of her dancing set to Charli xcx’s “360”, the album’s title track, bathed in a lime green filter.
@flextillerson kamala harris edit to 360 by charli xcx. brat presidency #kamalaharris #kamala #biden #harris2024 #charli #charlixcx #brat #360 ♬ original sound – aly
Her perceived nerdiness plays well in the hands of millions of young people who find it not only endearing but relatable. A mashup video of her stating how much she “loves Venn diagrams” is another that has recently made the rounds as more and more videos like these resurface. NBC News took it a step further with a tongue-in-cheek Venn diagram showing where Kamala Harris and Charli xcx overlap.
VP Harris’ presidential campaign has been bolstered by an unexpected group of supporters:
Charli XCX fans. https://t.co/oLLRFvs1Rp pic.twitter.com/eomJZBPpK7
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 23, 2024
Most of all these videos seem to be a refreshing reaction to the political trainwreck the United States seemed to be headed towards at breakneck speed. With only four months to go to the 2024 elections, most Americans seemed to have resigned themselves to a second Biden-Trump faceoff, only this time with a stoic acceptance that was not just about “saving democracy” like it was for Democrats four years ago but with a sense that most had not been listened to or that the political establishment had delivered on its promises. According to the aggregate polling website fivethirtyeight.com, both Trump and Biden have double-digit disapproval ratings and according to a survey conducted in April by the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans who follow election news were already fatigued by the coverage and although voter turnout was expected to be relatively high in November, Kamala Harris’s presidential run could galvanize voters between 18 to 34, typically the group to turnout in the lowest numbers and who were the least excited about Biden on the Democratic ticket.
When Joe Biden finally ceded to calls for him to drop out of the race, he immediately threw his support behind his Vice President. A number of high-profile democrats followed suit, with a number of them adding coconuts and palm trees to their bios on social media. In the 24 hours following Biden’s statement to step down on Sunday, she also picked up a strong majority of delegates slated to vote for the Democratic nominee in the Convention next month as well as a record 81 million dollars in donations.
However, Harris’s next four months will not be easygoing. Her approval numbers are not where they should be. FiveThirtyEight currently has her at 38 percent approval. An incumbent president running for a second term is usually expected to run with an approval rating of 50 percent or higher, while also benefiting from an incumbency boost. Harris does not enjoy either of these, although her term as VP should be factored in, to an extent. These considerations are probably why Biden insisted on hanging on as long as he did.
Republicans have wasted no time in throwing out attacks on her record as Vice President and particularly her work on immigration but in recent days, attacks on Harris’s womanhood and femininity have become front and center. Already in 2021, when running for senate, J.D. Vance in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson said that “we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats…by a bunch of childless cat ladies” then mentioning Kamala Harris directly. More recently, Will Chamberlain, a Republican lawyer who worked on Ron De Santis’ campaign tweeted, “Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be president: No children.” And has been retweeting a slate of similar content in the three days since.
Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President
No children
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) July 21, 2024
Fans and Democratic supporters were quick to flip the script publishing memes and graphics with “Childless Cat Ladies for Harris 2024” and her team has done well to seize the zeitgeist. But what most stands out about the “memification” of Kamala Harris is that it seems to have happened organically, away from her and her campaign. Too often when politicians attempt to seize a pop culture moment it has backfired, one can only think of “Dark Brandon”, which Biden’s team seemed able to wear out almost immediately, or even more cringeworthy, Hillary Clinton’s “Pokémon Go to the polls” in 2016. The key is to not let the meme become the brand or to let it become stale. “Brat summer” is just what the name says, a season, and if the Harris campaign wants to win in November, they will have to be able to walk the fine line between messaging and actual solutions that will resonate with the electorate. With Harris, voters will expect new air, and her job will be to show that she can rise above the establishment and bring real change, not just a fun selection of goofy internet memes.
Cover Photo: US Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024. (By KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
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