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On Sunday possibly the most consequential event of the 2024 presidential race happened. No, not President Joe Biden dropping out. I’m talking about “Kamala IS brat.”
These words, tweeted by Charli XCX, have catapulted Vice President Kamala Harris’s nascent campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination into rarified air, potentially sending thousands of fans and voters her way and catapulting her straight into the White House as our first woman president.
Okay, maybe I’m being hyperbolic, but I actually think that the way Harris has been embraced in pop culture could be significant in her presidential campaign and is changing the way she’s viewed among a large swath of voters, especially young people.
If you’re one of the many people now googling “what does ‘kamala is brat’ mean” or “what is ‘brat’” or even (it’s okay) “who is charli xcx,” we’re here for you. Here’s everything you need to know, in this edition of TL;DR.
Give me the TL;DR.
Kamala Harris is leaning into “brat summer,” the social media trend surrounding singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s recent album Brat, after Charli herself declared on X.com that she was supporting Harris, writing, “kamala IS brat.”
Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?
An interesting thing has been happening since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June made Harris a serious contender for the presidency: People have decided she is cool.
Well, deciding she is cool lacks the nuance of what is really happening, but it perhaps best describes it. People—and the collective internet culture—have become obsessed with Harris as a meme. They love her funny anecdotes (like the now infamous coconut tree), her uproarious cackle, her sometimes wacky persona, the way she dances, even the way she walks.
So, the “brat” of it all. If you’re lost, a brief explainer. Last month Charli XCX released an album called Brat that has basically taken over the internet and pop culture. From its lime green album cover to its several catchy singles to its normcore aesthetics and overall vibe, all anyone is talking about right now is Brat. People have also declared it a brat summer, which means we’re embracing Charli’s brand of unapologetic, messy, brash, internet It-girl womanhood which some describe as the antidote to the perfectionism of the clean-girl aesthetic.
Since Brat is the main pop culture touchstone in the zeitgeist right now, it’s not surprising that it has infiltrated the Harris discourse. One of the first things to go mega-viral about Harris, in fact, was this perfect Kamala x “Von Dutch” mash-up.
And in the way the internet does, the two forces began to combine.
https://www.tiktok.com/@olvsens/video/7388356704360090923
This brings us to Sunday night. Biden had dropped out of the presidential race, endorsing Harris to be the next Democratic nominee, and prominent party members had begun to fall in line. And then Charli tweeted simply “kamala IS brat.”
And so, since you are now educated, you now understand what she meant. Charli is telling her fans—and the collective adherents of brat summer—that to be a brat, you have to be on board with Harris. It’s that simple.
What does the internet think?
Obsessed, of course. Kamala has never been so brat.
People are even replacing the “I’m so Julia,” line in the Brat song “360” with “I’m so Kamala,” which is a campaign slogan if I’ve ever heard one.
Why should I care?
Earlier I wrote when discussing the coconut-tree meme: “Not to be hyperbolic, but I actually think this is changing Harris’s public perception—for the better.*” But now, like, I really don’t think I’m exaggerating.
Pop culture is culture, and culture really is just the collective output of society. As Harris would (maybe) say, elections exist in the context of all which came before it, or rather exist in the context of larger American society. We don’t vote in a vacuum. If people are now seeing Harris as a funny and, dare I say, cool, Coconut Queen of Brat Summer, it may actually make them want to vote for her. It could have an impact.
It’s especially interesting because out of all the image building her team did and has done of Harris as a politician, prosecutor, aunt, wife, and “Momala,” this version and perception of her is what seems to be breaking through to people. Prior to Biden’s debate performance, people online seemed to be either indifferent to Harris or derided her as cringe. Some didn’t like her prosecution record as a district attorney and later attorney general in California, calling her a “cop.”
But for various reasons the tide has turned. I’m no pollster, but I’ve become convinced that the memeification of Harris is making a lot of young potential voters actually excited about the possibility of her becoming president, creating enthusiasm that the Democratic party really needs right now.
*I still have no actual evidence of this.
Has Harris responded to all this?
I’ve become further convinced that this whole thing is good for Harris’s campaign by the way those running her strategy have responded to it: They’ve embraced it. Yes, a presidential campaign that understands internet culture and can engage with it, what a concept! (Sorry, Dark Brandon, but no.)
Almost immediately after Charli’s tweet, the Twitter (okay, X.com) account formerly known as @BidenHQ rebranded to @KamalaHQ and included a Brat meme in the rebrand.
And they even nodded to the coconut tree, with the description “providing context.”
A lot of other Democratic politicians are leaning into the memes as well. Hawaii senator Brian Schatz climbed a coconut tree for content.
And Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker responded to rumors he would challenge Harris with this.
Wow, am I laughing about politics for the first time since like 2015? Is that…joy? Fun?
Nature is…healing?
Am I going to care about or remember this in two weeks?
Yes, and I’m manifesting a Charli x Kamala appearance before November.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
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