Why is the internet calling Kamala Harris 'brat'?

Vice President Kamala Harris is brat.

At least that's what supporters of Harris have taken to calling her with social media awash with lime green highlighted memes of the vice president dancing and clips of her various speeches.

The meme-forward strategy took off after British singer Charli XCX appeared to throw her support behind Harris for a potential White House run. A video cut of Harris laughing and set to a Charli XCX song from the album “Brat” quickly went viral. The singer soon followed with her own take.

“Kamala IS brat,” the 31-year-old singer wrote Sunday on the social platform X, shortly after President Biden announced he was exiting the 2024 race and seemingly endorsing Harris. 

Soon after, the official X account for Biden’s campaign rebranded itself with a profile header change to a Brat-lime green image that reads “kamala hq.”

But what is "brat"?

Charli XCX's 2024 summer album release titled "brat" is a night club favorite and features a collection of songs that are all about the female gaze and how younger generations of women aspire to live.

This is how the singer explained it in a TikTok video:

"That girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown but parties through it. It’s very honest; it’s very blunt — a little bit volatile, does dumb things, but, like, it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat."

Many have taken "brat" to be the opposite of the "perfect" girl image that women are faced with on social media.

The "brat" color has also been co-opted by the Harris campaign. The very specific shade of chartreuse or "lime green," have been shared across the social media channels of the campaign.

However, according to Charli, anyone can be a brat.

“It can go that way, like, quite luxury, but it can also be so, like, trashy. Just, like, a pack of cigs, and, like, a Bic lighter, and, like, a strappy white top. With no bra. That’s, like, kind of all you need," she said.

Despite the cigarette-smoking, party-girl definiton, her campaign has leaned heavily into this theme shortly after Harris emerged as the likely Democratic nominee. Along with the coconut emoji, it has quickly become an informal symbol of support for her presidential campaign.

The banner on her official campaign account on X also has “Kamala” emblazoned in the same typeface used on the Charli XCX album. 

While she was campaigning for the presidency in 2020, Harris was frequently featured in viral trends and internet memes.

When she was in the running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, her supporters were known online as the K-Hive. The bee emoji was featured heavily in their then-Twitter feeds and they would “swarm” to defend the then-California senator online.