A Venn diagram. They are all symbols of a “brat” summer that has turned Kamala Harris into a slight but perceptible frontrunner over the master of social media, Donald Trump.
As we prepare to witness her coronation as the party’s nominee in an election more about senses than politics, Harris must keep this up. Because of this she is working with about two hundred digital creators who for the first time ever have had delegates rights and studio space at Democratic National Convention.
It believes that these creators are at least as significant for its message to get across to voters as traditional media organizations. Accordingly, some speakers—unlike journalists constrained by canons against appearances of bias—will make speeches in favor of Harris during DNC in Chicago.
On Monday night Deja Foxx, a Columbia University graduate whose website claims she is an activist “leading thought at the intersection of social justice and social media,” will take the stage. She is passionate about reproductive rights which became ammunition for Democrats after conservative Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade federal abortion protections.
“I will be the first creator to speak at the DNC tonight,” Foxx, whose TikTok account has nearly 140k followers while her Instagram page features around 52k followers, stated in a video she posted on Monday. “This is me living my dream.” Before arriving in Chicago for convention on Sunday she published two videos where she did “outfit check” wearing Stella McCartney dress bought secondhand and captioned a photo featuring a child’s photo with pigtails saying vintage 2020 primaries ‘Kamala tee’.
‘Based now in Arizona where polling indicates tight presidential race since working on Harris’ failed 2020 Democratic presidential nomination bid, Foxx sees Republicans appealing to voters who worry about border security while they grapple with what to do regarding women’s reproductive rights. A state constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights is slated for November ballot and this could drive Democratic turnout.
Besides Foxx, there are four other influencers—Olivia Julianna, Carlos Eduardo Espina, Nabela Noor and John Russell—who will speak at the DNC this week. They will share the stage with Harris and her running mate Tim Walz as well as most powerful Democrats including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar also took to social media to celebrate her party’s recent success compared to former president Trump’s past dominance. “One of the frustrations for us and our party is that these guys just captured the Internet,” she told a group of New York delegates at the DNC on Monday morning. “But not this time.”
Klobuchar specifically pointed out that Trump’s running mate JD Vance recently made derogatory remarks about childless cat ladies which sparked opposition not only from Democrats but also some Republicans themselves.
“Cat ladies of the country united when we saw that cat ladies video,” she said. “Kamala they come after her for coconut trees, coconuts memes, end of bratsummer and laugh on zoom for exemple We take this back.”
However, his initial comments have spawned the perception that the GOP ticket is at odds with women, even though Vance clarified he was criticizing the Democratic Party for “becoming anti-family and anti-child,” not individuals who cannot conceive. The influencer Noor who is scheduled to speak at the DNC on Tuesday has spoken passionately on her YouTube channel where she has more than 1 million subscribers about how tough it was for her and her husband to get pregnant.
This could resonate with diehard Democrats at the DNC but it is also seen in a pinned TikTok video on Harris’ account as a challenge being faced by Democrats vis -a-via Gen Z. Noor speaks about why she deleted an earlier post expressing “compassion for the innocent civilians” affected by Hamas’ attack on Israel last October. The US and EU have designated Hamas, which carried out these attacks, a terrorist group.
“I assumed all my followers were aware of my past posts and support for Palestine in the past year,” she said while applying make-up. She added: “If I were to do one thing differently it would probably be to be more explicit about my being pro-Palestinian, peacemaking movement while still showing sympathy towards innocent Israeli civilians.”
Including influencers like Noor in its speaker line up is a way that party leaders are hoping to gain attention from young people; core constituents of Biden’s base who did not seem thrilled with his attempt at re-election. They’ve warmed up to Harris since he dropped out of the race but some are still concerned about what they perceive as weak response by vice president during Israel-Hamas war.
Noor’s video clarifying her views on conflict demonstrates how Gaza remains the most divisive and biggest issue that many young Democrats have turn against their party on. Harris’s stance was closer to that of Palestinians than Biden’s but she refused to call out Israel — it has been bombing Gaza with intent to destroy Hamas.
As pro-Palestinian groups staged mass rallies urging followers to “Shut Down the DNC for Gaza!,” Chicago was braced for demonstrations over the conflict. By Monday afternoon, thousands of protesters had taken to the streets of the city.
Harris even faced protests during her campaign. “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” a group yelled at a rally in Detroit earlier this month. Frustrated, Vice President retorted: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
A number of other influencers are scheduled to speak at the convention; however Espina is by far the most popular on TikTok with over 10 million people following him on that platform. Immigration ranks among Americans’ top worries this election cycle and it is also one of those cudgels pick up by Trump and GOP frequently against Democrats.
Especially for Harris, this is a weak point. The vice president’s portfolio of issues included addressing the root causes of migration which Republicans have seized upon.
Espina, 25, creates uplifting videos for the immigrant community. Biden featured in one of his videos earlier in the summer after he had announced a policy that aimed at broadening opportunities for some undocumented individuals and certain spouses to American citizens. In his most recent video though, he was film in action within Chicago claiming that he was capturing everything on camera so as to keep the viewers updated.
“There should be no wrong door for engaging with voters,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at an event on Monday. “We are talking about what is important to them most and I’ve seen brat summer starting it off up until now where they are doing all these great things online. It’s been very, very impressive. I’m someone who really enjoys communicating with my fellow Pennsylvanians on Tiktok, Instagram, wherever. It is really important to meet people where they are.”
