On July 21 2024, President Joe Biden officially renounced his nomination and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Despite joining the race only a few days ago, the VP has been dealt an amazing hand in the form of an edit of one of her speeches set to a song from singer Charli XCX’s latest album: brat.
It’s a brat summer for Kamala Harris
The edit was inspired by a part of Harris’ speech in which she says: «You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and came before you». The way the Vice President pauses and laughs made this line the perfect interlude to Von Dutch, one of the most popular songs from the album.
The meme was a hit, and soon spawned a whole slew of versions. Each version used a different song from the aforementioned album. Edits such as these aren’t unique on social-media. Chances are you can find any famous person edited to any popular song on TikTok or X/Twitter. However, what is quite unique is how Harris decided to adopt the meme for her own political campaign.
It all started with a tweet from Charli XCX herself: “kamala IS brat”. These three simple words set the internet on fire, boosting the meme’s popularity significantly. Harris’ team and the Democratic Party have since wasted no time in joining the trend appealing to the young demographic of voters. As of July 22 2024, the campaign’s official X/Twitter account has changed its banner to brat’s iconic acid green background and blurred simple text reading “kamala hq”, a clear nod to the album cover.
A powerful new generation
With polls opening only three months from now, in November 2024, Harris needed to kick off her campaign with a bang. By embracing the edits people were making of her, not only she managed to reach young voters but also set herself apart from her opponent Donald Trump, who is significantly older than her.
During the U.S. midterm elections, Gen Z voted at a higher rate than any other generation at their age. Although this doesn’t give us a clear indication as to who young people are more likely to vote for, it is clear that Gen Z is shaping up to be a politically active bloc of voters that candidates must reach if they wish to secure the oval office this Winter.
Will it be enough?
Despite Gen Z making up a large percentage of the voting bloc, it’s still unclear if this kind of political communication will win over young voters. What we can tell, however, is that it has been an extremely effective strategy in launching Harris as a credible and, certainly, younger nominee.
Running a political campaign in the age of social media can prove to be tricky. Candidates must understand technology and keep up with trends that come and go more rapidly each time. To do so, it’s important they don’t just pick something they believe young people like and consider it in isolation from the broader culture, as was the case with Trump’s high tops. Instead, the best way of appealing to young voters is by knowing the background and actually engaging with what they like. In the words of the now-Presidential candidate, great campaigns don’t just “fall out of a coconut tree” they “exist in the context”.
