Like her fellow (and former fellow) presidential candidates for the 2024 election, Kamala Harris is now on TikTok.
But she’s had a grassroots presence on the app long before making her official account. Since announcing her presidential bid, Harris has fundraised over $100 million, and that’s important, sure. What’s also important is the hundreds of thousands of coconut and brat videos wilfiring their way across every social media platform–including TikTok.
Here’s a primer on the Momala trends of the moment:
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- The whole “coconut” thing comes from a 2023 speech where Harris was talking about the interconnectivity of generations. “My mother […] 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?'” she laughed, before following up with the more serious, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
- “Brat,” meanwhile, comes from musician Charli XCX‘s latest album. The artist coined “brat” as a slang term referring to “That girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown but parties through it. It’s very honest; it’s very blunt—a little bit volatile, does dumb things, but, like, it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.” After Harris’ bid announcement, XCX posted that the current VP “IS brat.”
In addition to hundreds of thousands of videos about these memes, TikTokers are deploying K-pop-style fancams, with some even editing their beloved Korean idols into the footage alongside Harris. (Jimin VP pick when?)
So, what’s all this mean for the Harris campaign? Well, it means Gen Z–a historical record-setting force of Democratic voters–are throwing their weight behind her, and rallying their fellow young voters via the common language of their people: memes.
Harris knows it, too: In her TikTok account’s intro video, she makes a cheeky reference to all the memery, saying, “I’ve heard that recently I’ve been on the For You page, so I thought I’d get on here myself.”
@kamalaharrisThought it was about time to join!♬ original sound – Kamala Harris
Gen Z turned out in droves for the 2020 election, with an estimated 53% to 55% of registered 18 to 29-year-olds casting their vote. They were instrumental in securing Joe Biden‘s victory over incumbent Republican Donald Trump. When Biden was the Democrats’ 2024 candidate, there were concerns about whether young voters would support him. But in the 48 hours after Harris’ bid announcement, more than 33,000 people between the ages of 18 and 34 registered to vote for the first time, per Vote.org.
Harris’ account has only posted three videos so far; it’s already racked up 2 million followers and over 15 million views. (That account, btw, is not to be confused with the “Kamala HQ” account, which also has 2 million followers but does not appear to be associated with Harris’ official campaign.)
Trump, who joined TikTok in June and has since become a staunch defender of it despite pushing for it to be banned while he was in office, is also having a bit of a moment with digital denizens. Creators like Jake Paul, FaZe Banks, and Bryce Hall have all publicly supported him. He also just played a much-filmed round of golf with Bryson DeChambeau, who’s carving out an interesting space for himself on YouTube by doing the sorts of videos you expect from full-time creators, all while being a professional athlete.
We can’t wrap up without mentioning that, hey, the TikTok ban is still on, despite both Biden and Harris doing major young voter outreach on the very platform they want ousted from the U.S.
