As U.S. President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid on Sunday and publicly endorsed Kamala Harris, some admirers of the vice-president celebrated with coconuts.
For those asking “why is everyone talking about coconuts and coconut trees?,” the origin of the Kamala Harris “coconut tree” meme may come as a disappointment. That’s because, as is the way with all great viral internet moments, the meme has long since lost its original meaning.
Regardless, the Harris campaign has embraced the virality, using the meme and other hot pop culture moments to connect with young voters online.
‘You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’
The now-famous coconut tree line came during Harris’ speech delivered to the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics in May last year.
While at the podium, the vice-president tried to encourage young people to focus not only on themselves, but also on uplifting their elders and larger community.
“None of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context,” Harris began, easing into a moment that would later blow up online. “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?’”
Harris laughed but grew more solemn and philosophical — and then said, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
The short moment was clipped and has since been shared online millions of times.
As Biden endorsed Harris for the Democratic ticket, the coconut tree memes blew up again.
On Sunday, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz shared a photo of himself harvesting real coconuts with the caption, “Madam Vice President, we are ready to help.”
The same day, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who has endorsed Harris, cited the meme using emojis on X.
On social media, the organically produced coconut tree memes have continued to hold attention, with Harris supporters (called the KHive online, for the record) only producing more.
Kamala Harris’ ‘brat summer’
If you ask most any gen Zer how they’re enjoying the warm weather, they might tell you they’re having a “brat summer.”
The label is in reference to British singer Charli XCX’s new album brat, the acclaimed electropop LP that’s brought the wild-partying, care-free feeling of 2000s pop music back to the limelight.
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Brat isn’t just known for fun club-pop tracks. The album, and by extension Charli XCX, is the embodiment of an oft-ironic digital aesthetic and messy party girl ethos.
Though Harris’ own brand is hardly aligned with Charli XCX’s lyrics and messaging, the singer appeared to endorse Harris for election on Sunday, writing on X, “kamala IS brat.”
The Harris campaign took the viral opportunity and ran with it.
The @KamalaHQ X profile, the official rapid response page of Harris’ presidential campaign, rebranded using Charli XCX’s chartreuse look. A deliberately low-quality banner reading “kamala hq” was slapped onto the profile, alongside a bio that reads, “Providing context,” a nod to the coconut tree meme.
Harris supporters and Charli XCX fans alike created edits of the VP dancing to brat songs, dozens of which have already achieved viral status.
There’s even been a crossover of the coconut tree meme and brat, with some social media edits mixing the memeified Harris quote into Charli XCX’s dance tracks.
In her song 360, Charli XCX sings, “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia,” in reference to star Julia Fox.
Thanks to Charli XCX’s endorsement and the online nature of her fanbase, Harris is also everywhere, especially on the social media feeds of young gen Z voters.
Kamala is ‘Momala’
You may have also seen some folks on social media, whether ironically or not, calling Harris “Momala.”
The nickname stems from an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, in which the 50 First Dates actor said the U.S. needed Harris to be “Momala of the country.”
Earlier in 2019, Harris wrote an article for Elle about being a step-parent to her husband Doug Emhoff’s children, Cole and Ella.
“A few years later when Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term ‘stepmom,’” she wrote. “Instead they came up with the name ‘Momala.’”
A love of Venn diagrams
There’s something nice about a good graph, but Harris really loves Venn diagrams, or so she’s said.
During a 2022 event, Harris told the crowd, “I love Venn diagrams. I really do.”
“It’s just something about those three circles and the analysis of where there’s the intersection, right?” she laughed.
In an attempt to poke fun at Harris, the Republican National Committee posted the Venn diagram clip to YouTube. Though the prodding evoked a response from some Republican supporters, other commenters found humour in Harris’ gushing.
Just like the coconut tree meme, the line was clipped and shared widely online.
Even the official Harris campaign has gotten in on the fun. On Sunday the @KamalaHQ X account shared a Venn diagram of its own, with “Biden HQ” and “Kamala HQ” in separate bubbles, overlapping to show similarity in “holding Trump accountable.”
Do political memes matter?
As is the way with internet memes, “coconut tree,” a love of Venn diagrams and Harris’ other viral moments are likely to expire quickly.
Still, even if Harris’ meme fame is short-lived, the campaign appears to believe even semi-ironic support via social media is still support.
“The cultural gap here is really stark between Gen Z and a lot of other groups,” Cory Alpert, a staffer on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign and former Biden White House advance staffer, told The Associated Press. “These little moments and lines that Gen Z are picking up and running with, other groups — especially Boomers — seem to find annoying or laughable, because they want the candidate you can get a beer with.”
Younger adults — those between the ages of 18 and 29 — had a slightly more favourable view of Harris than Biden in a July AP-NORC poll conducted after the debate, but before Biden announced he was withdrawing as the Democratic nominee. A significant share of those polled said they didn’t have an opinion.
Only about one-quarter of 18- to 29-year-olds had a somewhat or very favourable opinion of Biden in the poll, and about seven in 10 had an unfavourable opinion of him. By contrast, about four in 10 young adults had a favourable view of Harris, while about four in 10 had an unfavourable view. About two in 10 didn’t know enough to say.
A similar share of 18- to 29-year-olds — around four in 10 — had a favourable view of Trump in the July poll, while about half had an unfavourable view and about one in 10 didn’t know enough to say.
— With files from The Associated Press
