Kamala has been claimed by brat summer - but will it be a brat ballot?
Banseka Kayembe
Since being announced as the Democratic presidential candidate, the words “coconut tree” have been irrevocably seared into our brains (the jury’s still out on whether that joke is actually funny by the way). “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you!” has spawned endless memes and tweets, and now we have confirmation that “Kamala IS brat” according to millennial artist of the summer Charlie XCX. Her campaign team have embraced Kamala’s internet virality, with the official Kamala Harris X page bearing a neon green banner with the words “Kamala HQ” in the brat album style, almost immediately after Biden announced his intention to not run for the presidency.
Political parties using social media seems par for the course these days, especially in a bid to reach younger voters. But what does Kamala’s prolific meme-ification mean for youth participation in politics? Is attention generation really the biggest currency in our democracies?
Kamala already had a history of being meme-able, so this explicit embrace of her as an internet personality isn’t purely a top down effort out of nowhere to popularise her. Online, her political presence has long been characterised by clips of her speaking in slam poetry style and videos of her joyfully dancing at public appearances. From her profession to “love venn diagrams”, her obsession with long winded statements revolving around the phrase “unburdened”, to (understandably) leaning uncomfortably away when Drew Barrymore asked her to be “Momala of the country”, our timelines have been peppered with silly, harmless seeming Kamala content. This organic kind of virality has rocketed since Biden’s bowing out; a group of queer men in Fire Island posed in brat-esque Kamala shirts ready to show their support and videos merging the brat lime green colour with Kamala’s coconut catchphrase have dominated timelines.
Some of the online associations her team are capitalising on might not seem completely wild. If we understand brat artistically as an exploration of liberation and letting yourself go, Kamala’s slightly chaotic demeanour leans into that - a side of politicians we rarely get to see.
For a long time Kamala has been captured on our timelines laughing and giggling - even during serious political appearances - which suggests a kind of anarchy that feels discordant with traditional politics. Age also possibly plays a role in her meme-worthiness, having both been a major factor in Biden’s decreasing basic capabilities and a relative strength for Kamala. US politics may be one of the few areas in life where being a fifty-something woman actually marks you out as youthful.
It’s worth noting amongst all this online popularity that ironic posting may also be playing a role here. Social media is becoming in some ways increasingly a less serious place and more one for a dramatic, overexaggerated playground whilst life itself becomes overly bleak and serious. Whether young voters are laughing with Kamala, or more so at her, might make a difference at the ballot box. The latter seems less likely to translate into actual votes, or firing up a long term loyal base for the future - and its likely we won’t know how her content clout has helped or hindered until election day
If we were to compare this meme-ification with how Bernie Sanders’ election campaign of 2020 utilised strategic social media content to complement strong engagement on the ground with communities, where they lived, speaking in their own language, it feels like there’s a difference in substance. Trivial virality might seem impactful because everyone is talking about you, but it doesn’t translate into impact, failing to reach those demographics the Democrats need, who often feel unheard and left behind.
In the recent UK general election, The Labour Party also used social media in an attempt to boost support amongst particularly young people. Using trending content, their outputs were at times a bit hit and miss (with some users in comment sections calling it cringey) but Labour did gain a significant following and some consistently high viewing figures. It was reported however that their share of 18-24 year olds votes went down at the last election, losing them mostly to the Green Party and Reform UK.
Some of this may be that Keir Starmer himself lacks the likeability that memes require; even the foibles of the Conservative party provided easy internet fodder. Coming from a prosecutor background might be one of few things he and Kamala Harris share, as he certainly doesn’t have the kooky charisma that Kamala can exude, more so that of a rizz-less bureaucratic bank manager. But further than that, Labour policies themselves seemed to fall short of what younger people wanted.
Which brings things back to the most salient point: do we believe young people in the US will simply vote for a candidate based on some funny memes? It seems somewhat patronising to young people to conclude so. Journalist Chloe Laws, documented The Labour Party’s efforts to reach young voters here in the UK general election, and told Naked Politics that meme content is “meeting Gen Z where they are, but when it’s often being produced by people not in that age group or have no understanding of the landscape it falls pretty flat. If it’s used to translate and communicate meaningful policy and important information that they wouldn’t receive elsewhere, then it can be a really positive thing.” But too often, political memes have a shelf life shorter than election campaigns themselves.. “Like the brat campaign, what does that mean? She isn’t brat and even if she was, that isn’t necessarily what we’re after in politicians.” Laws says.
Josh Rivers, host of award-winning podcast Busy Being Black and social justice communications consultant thinks her meme-fication is “nothing short of a coordinated social media and PR campaign in order to sanitise and yassify Harris' public image. It's very important to remember that politicians capitalise on an internet culture nurtured and sustained by the humour, intellect and political activity of young people.” This is more insidious than viral TikTok montages of Harris will have us think. “We should be very concerned that systems of power very easily adopt and deploy popular internet culture in order to distract us from their records and their lack of effective and tangible policy proposals while canvassing for votes." Rivers tells Naked Politics.
What may end up being pivotal in this election, is younger US voters' stance on Gaza. According to recent data only 16% of adults under 30 favour the U.S. providing military aid to Israel, compared with 56% of those 65 and older. On the one hand, Kamala’s been slightly more progressive than Biden in this area. She was one of the first senior US officials to call for a ceasefire and called for humanitarian aid to not be deliberately blocked by Israel, while still affirming Israel to has a right to defend itself. Since she was announced as the Democratic candidate the policy landscape has continued to feel like a mixed bag. She has condemned pro-Palestine protests recently but also opted not to attend Netenyahu’s speech in Congress. Biden arguably won in 2020 in part due to a willingness to commit to more progressive policies, but for Kamala the policy position so far is mixed with vanishingly little time to flesh it out. Chloe added “ If she was focusing on the decriminalisation of drugs or was even a bit more left wing then potentially the brat meme works, but as her record is being fairly pro-police it doesn’t really connect for me.”
Gaza will probably be pivotal for young US voters, and memes won’t erase young people’s current dissatisfaction with US foreign policy. Only 16% of adults under 30 favour the U.S. providing military aid to Israel, compared with 56% of those 65 and older. Kamala has only been mildly more progressive than Biden; she has condemned pro-Palestine protests recently but also opted not to attend Netanyahu's speech in Congress. With Biden arguably winning in 2020 due to committing to more progressive policies, Kamala will need to have the courage to do the same on military action in Gaza.
Contrary to popular beliefs that memes alone will win younger people’s votes, Josh feels encouraged by Gen Z's scepticism and “the various ways they refuse to be swayed by the charlatans on our television, computer and phone screens…their impressive disregard for authority…I feel confident that Gen Z will hold those in power accountable for the crimes of poverty, wage theft, genocide and fiduciary malfeasance that characterise our political life in the 21st century."
Whilst they might be funny on the timeline, memes and pop-culture collaboration will unlikely be enough for younger voters this November. Young people, like any other demographic, deserve good policies too. If the Democrats don’t take this seriously when shaping their policy agenda, they’ll have no one but themselves to blame when Trump is back in the White House.
Thanks for reading our article! We know young people’s opinions matter and really appreciate everyone who reads us.
Give us a follow on Instagram and TikTok to stay up to date with what young people think.