Vice President Kamala Harris, who is one of the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, has renewed her campaign’s momentum with viral memes about a “coconut tree” comment she made last year.
Harris is now in the spotlight as President Biden has passed the baton to her. A report suggests that she has gained the support of most Democrats and on social media, there are numerous “coconut tree” memes and quirky edits of Harris’s odd moments that have gone viral, according to New York Post.
A “coconut tree” meme emanated from a speech that Harris gave in May 2023 when she talked about how her mom once told her: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Her laughter and strange story have morphed into both derision and delight on social media.
The departure of President Joe Biden from the race all over sudden pushed up Harris’ candidacy giving rise to a resurgence of the coconut meme. This has been turned into a social media campaign by liberal TikTokers who are looking to portray Harris’ weird aunt energy towards younger voters.
Democratic leaders followed suit by using this meme as an endorsement of their candidate. With caption “Madam Vice president we are ready to help,” Senator Brian Schatz shared a picture showing himself gathering coconuts. Jared Polis, Colorado governor joined JB Pritzker his Illinois counterpart as they embraced coconut theme where Polis posted various emojis such as US flag, palm tree or coconut whereas Pritzker just joked off any possibility that he could be a future president with reference to this particular subject matter.
Moreover, popular British pop star Charli XCX contributed to increasing her profile terming her tweet which received over 23 million views as brat thus exposing harris more. Notably,the phrase became part of wider girl boss culture among fans Charli XCX used to celebrate women of power in public eye.
Even the social media influencers remixed her coconut quip and viral moments with energetic rap sound. leiasskywalkers on TikTok, for instance, made a video using Kesha’s song that talks about how a small comment could make Harris win unexpectedly.
However, some users have expressed strong dissent. User williamroy634 comment, “Moving out of the United States if Kamala gets elect because hell naw.”
Harris has used memes and social media as part of a larger strategy by the administration to reach out to young people more effectively. Highlighting the younger generation connectivity this year through engaging influencers such as Benny Drama signals Harris’ desire to be current and trendy during her first year as VP.
