Brat campaign: Harris team swiftly embraces Gen Z memes about VP
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With Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign kicking off, her team has embraced the potential of memes to break through with a younger, perpetually online demographic.
Why it matters: Harris, 59, offers a dramatic shift for the Democratic party away from an 81-year-old presidential candidate whose age prompted serious questions about his ability to serve as well as attacks from his Republican opponent, former President Trump, who is 78.
- With age and fitness for office posing such central questions in the 2024 race so far, the Harris campaign's ability to play into the memes could engage young voters who get their news from social media and shake off the traditional stiffness of campaign communications.
- It also highlights the contrast between her and Trump, who is now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history.
State of play: Harris supporters online latched onto the possibility of her rising to the top of the Democratic ticket following Biden's poor debate performance last month and a flurry of memes followed.
- Internet users dug up old clips and created fancam edits of the vice president — including of her dancing and explaining how to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey — which quickly went viral.
- One particularly viral clip, from 2023, featured Harris telling a story about her mother asking her, "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" before adding: "You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you." Countless memes involving coconuts followed.
- Online supporters have even dubbed themselves the KHive — an apparent play on Beyoncé's "Beyhive."
The big picture: "Kamala IS brat," British pop star Charli XCX posted on X just hours after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed the vice president to be the new nominee.
- The Harris campaign's HQ X account quickly embraced the lime-hued aesthetic of Charli XCX's "Brat" album in its green background photo featuring the words "Kamala HQ." The account's description reads "providing context."
- On Sunday night, the account posted a venn diagram — Harris' love for the chart has been another popular meme fodder — featuring the words "Biden HQ" and "Kamala HQ" in two circles, with the overlap labeled "holding Trump accountable."
- The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment regarding its embrace of the memes.
The other side: Trump's team has been planning his attacks on Harris since before Biden announced his withdrawal and Trump has already given her one of his signature nicknames — "Laffin' Kamala Harris."
- The Trump campaign's "War Room" X account on Sunday that posted that the Kamala HQ account was "unburdened by what has been," using the commonly meme'd refrain from Harris as an apparent dig.
- A social media user quickly warned them to drop the use of the phrase because "Gen Z loves it."
- Kamala HQ retweeted a screenshot of the interaction.
Zoom out: As Harris rallies the support of her party, even some Democratic lawmakers are getting in on the fun.
- "Madam Vice President, we are ready to help," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted on X Sunday alongside of a photo of himself climbing a coconut tree.
- In a statement Sunday throwing his support to Harris, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis included the "🥥🌴🇺🇸" emojis.
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