Coconuts, Venn Diagrams, Brat Campaign: How Kamala Harris Is Embracing Viral Memes to Engage Young Voters
- Her rapid response included posting a Venn diagram on X showing “holding Trump accountable” as the intersection of both the Biden and Harris operations.
Kamala Harris’ supporters have been flooding social media with photos and emojis — the vice president in pearls and pantsuits, the U.S. flag, Venn diagrams, and coconut trees. Memes that began as a criticism of the vice president are now being embraced by her supporters.
As the Associated Press reported, “viral mashups of brat and coconut tree together — playing Charli’s music over clips of the Harris quip — have spread widely as well on Instagram, X and TikTok.”
Axios notes that 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.”
The trend began on Sunday right after President Joe Biden stepped down from his re-election bid and endorsed Harris. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii solidified his endorsement of Harris on X by posting a photo of himself climbing a coconut tree. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis simply posted emojis for a coconut, tree and the American flag on X.
So what connection does the vice president have to a coconut tree. The reference harks back to May 10, 2023, when Harris spoke at a swearing-in ceremony of commissioners for an initiative focused on expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic and Latino Americans. While discussing the importance of families, communities and environment to ensure success for young people, she stressed that “none of us just live in a silo.”
“My mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’” the vice president recalled, chuckling. “‘You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’” At the time, the somewhat existential-sounding phrase was shared many times over by critics labeling Harris as “drunk” or “crazy.”
As regards to the “brat” memes, it began when British pop star Charli XCX posted “Kamala IS brat,” on X, just hours after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed Harris. 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.”
And of course there are also the green “brat” T-shirts already popping up, too, as seen in X posts from Fire Island, New York.
Harris’ viral video about Venn diagrams also saw a turnaround since Sunday. “I love Venn diagrams,” Harris said during an event in 2022. “There’s just something about those three circles and the analysis of where there’s the intersection right?”
The Republican National Committee posted a clip of the comment on YouTube as a way to criticize Harris. But many of those commenting on the posts expressed their own love for the set theory tool that shows overlapping areas of similarity.
Harris’s campaign has now seized on the moment, too, with her rapid response operation posting its own Venn diagram on X showing “holding Trump accountable” as the intersection of both the Biden and Harris operations.