A group of UMass Amherst students paused their lunch at the Blue Wall food court to show me the new new icon image for their group chat: a picture of Vice President Kamala Harris.
With Harris taking center stage as the Democratic Party’s likely presidential nominee, various jokes and memes have emerged on the internet, grabbing the attention of young Gen Z voters.
There are several memes of Harris speaking at a White House event last year, when she quoted her mom.
“'You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?'" Harris said with a laugh. "You exist within the context in which you live and what came before you."
The clip has been rearranged in many forms, including a mashup of the song “Blow” from Kesha.
But one of the biggest viral sensations in the political zeitgeist right now is British pop singer Charli XCX tweeting “Kamala is Brat,” likening Harris to her new album of the same name.
The musician describes a “Brat” as someone who is honest, blunt and — despite being a little unsure —ultimately believes in herself.
International UMass student, Ishaan, 19, said he’s a Charli XCX fan.
kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024
“I’m a Brat. I'm a Brat fan, my friends know that. So I think just seeing that was really funny,” Ishaan said.
Ishaan asked that we don’t use his full name, out of fear of being deported.
“Her putting that tweet up that ‘Kamala is Brat’ and then Kamala Harris following her instantly after that was kind of like — a lot of people said it reminded them of the Obama times when he was leveraging pop culture stars [to] increase his outreach among young voters. So I think that's what’s kind of exciting,” Ishaan said.
Indira Calvo, 20, is a rising junior at UMass and said while the memes are funny, it's also a smart political tactic for Harris and her team to use.
“I think that, unfortunately, our elections are such a circus that at this point there needs to be some type of pop culture moment for these candidates in order to stay relevant,” Calvo said. “And I think that Kamala's team was smart enough to bring that into her purview.”
Asher McMahan, 20, is an incoming senior at UMass Amherst. They said they feel like the general public doesn’t really know Harris and this is a way for her to seem more personable.
“I think memes and stuff are a really big way that, especially young people, communicate. And so I think if we are going to become more aware of her perspectives and her ideas and policies, it's going to have to utilize the internet,” McMahan said.
Even before Donald Trump became president, he made himself a pop culture icon by starring in his own reality TV series, "The Apprentice," and made guest appearances in multiple movies like "Home Alone 2."
Now, as the Republican presidential candidate, Trump already has an established internet presence, which has been amplified by the recent assassination attempt. His supporters have been posting images with their ears bandaged, both at the RNC and on social media.
Depre Carr, 20, will be a junior at UMass. She said it was smart of Biden to drop out after the RNC.
“That whole week of millions of dollars of events, programing and media coverage was spent on attacking Biden for his age. And now that's no longer an issue,” Carr said.
Since Biden’s endorsement, Harris has gained the support of nearly all Democrats in Congress, a majority of convention delegates, and a few influential pop stars.
We’ll see if that translates into votes for the Democrat’s first “Brat” candidate.
