this is Totally normal quote of the daya feature highlighting statements from the news that are just such examples. How extremely normal That’s how it all happened.
“Kamala is a brat.” —Charlie XCX voiced his support for Kamala Harris for president amid a flood of Brat Summer-themed internet memes focusing on Harris.
We can all agree that memes have been all the rage this summer, and not just political ones. There was the mugshot of Justin Timberlake combined with the words he supposedly uttered during his DUI arrest (“This is going to ruin my tour”), the incredible online dominance of Harry Welch (aka “Hawk Tua” girl) as he seeks greater Hollywood stardom, and of course the release of British pop star Charli XCX’s new album. Brattook the internet by storm with its lime-green aesthetic and “Apple” dance. When will these highly repeatable, yet admittedly mid-calorie, cultural soundbites merge with the seriousness of electoral politics?
Apparently, this is it. Weeks before President Joe Biden decided not to run for a second term, memes about Vice President Kamala Harris (and her potential assumption of the role) began circulating, growing more insane by the day. They included Harris’s pointless but funny attempts to explain her interest in Venn diagrams, her oft-quoted mantra of “don’t dwell on the past, imagine the future” combined with her admonition, “Do you think that just fell from a coconut tree?”, showing a lighter, more earthy side to Harris’s still-stiff and difficult-to-interpret personality. The dissonance seemed to tap into a wellspring of Gen Z humor completely out of reach for most politicians.
Then came the tweet “Dutch Brat Coconut Tree Edit,” a collection of Harris soundbites set to Charli XCX songs. Brat Released in June, the album’s synth beats and atmosphere offered an aesthetic and cultural alternative to last summer’s ultra-pink albums. Barbie It was a sensation: a musical celebration of caring less and being more together. If the summer of 2023 was about bubblegum optimism, this summer was about partying with nihilism. (As my colleague Scaachi Cole put it, “We’re living the summer like it’s the end of the world.”) A storm of memes erupted as Internet users latched onto the idea that Harris might be having a brat summer, or that brat summer might seamlessly coincide with “letting go of the burdens of the past.”
Does that make sense? No, it doesn’t. The meme is all the rage and is definitely “free from the burden of the past.” Internet denizens have started mixing Harris’ clips of “Coconut Tree” and “You present in the context” into their decades-old hits. Have you heard Britney Spears and Kamala Harris’ collaboration “Gimme More”? Harris’ face is photoshopped onto the album cover. I’ve heard it and it’s so funny. I’m not sure why. But keep the memes coming.
Of course, all this confusion reflects the current confusion. Biden’s decision to drop the Democratic nomination and strongly endorse Kamala Harris has thrown the US (and the internet) into turmoil. In just under 24 hours, Harris has gained widespread Democratic support, record donations to ActBlue, which supports her campaign, and a staggering 100% support for the Democratic Party. Brat Queen Charli XCX. This pseudo-endorsement, calling Harris “selfish” rather than the candidate, quickly became the culmination of the summer of selfish girls, inevitably leading to CNN’s Jake Tapper taking to cable TV to try and explain the tweet (and the surrounding phenomenon).
It’s still unclear what Harris thinks about those Brat Summer viral tweets and videos, but her campaign has definitely jumped on the trend. PopCrave reported that Harris has since followed Charli XCX on Instagram, and is following X. Additionally, the “rebranded” Harris Headquarters X Account (Veep (absolutely intended as a reference here) has a “kamala hq” banner Brat The album’s font features Charlie’s trademark green background, and the biography states: “Provides context.” fun, Is it admirable that a presidential campaign would so readily embrace the cultural obsessions of younger generations?
That said, having a meme’s characters lean into your joke is always a gamble, and it can kill momentum. Remember how popular the “Dark Brandon” meme became after the Biden campaign plastered it on mugs, t-shirts, and even water cans? You don’t remember? Because it didn’t catch on. The Biden campaign’s forced adoption of the meme stifled it.
So while I’d warn the Harris campaign against ever replacing the speech with a rousing musical rendition of the coconut tree vignette, I think it’s okay to lean into the Brat Summer zeitgeist a little. After all, the fans are happy. (“This is worth more than a million dollars in paid media,” DC journalist Jasmine Wright wrote in X about Charlie’s “Kamala is a brat” tweet.)
But the question remains whether this reinvigorated youth energy for the 2024 election, and especially for Harris’ candidacy, will sustain and translate into votes in November. Will the enthusiasm for Kamala Brat Summer translate into actual Democratic action at the polls? Or will the internet noise simply fade away and the undoubtedly serious stakes of this election come to the fore once again? These are entirely unknowns for now, but the energy in the metaphorical (online) room is palpable, and Democrats desperately need to re-engage disaffected young voters. After what seemed like three years of exhausting three weeks of post-presidential debate slump, it’s nice to embrace the positive change in attitudes, and of course the Brat Summer. Too much.
