‘The bus will go here and then the bus will go there’: Internet memes and the Kamala Harris campaign
Web jokes expected to promote her 'policy positions'
Two months ago, amid calm Washington waters, Joe Biden’s campaign posted a job offering for a “meme manager.” Campaign leaders hoped they might find someone who could help them harness trends and broaden the aging president’s appeal. There was, of course, one major flaw with that plan: Biden isn’t meme-able. And next to the ever-boisterous, filter-less Donald Trump, Biden looked downright robotic.
Enter Kamala Harris.
When Biden announced he was dropping out of the race Sunday afternoon and endorsed his vice president, social media feeds were inundated with memes about Harris.
Throughout history, young people have decided what’s in and what’s out, what sells and what doesn’t, who’s cool and who’s not. There is indescribability in the trendy; Harris has “it.”
‘kamala IS brat,” singer Charli XCX posted on X, in reference to her latest studio album, BRAT. Gen Z, America’s youngest voters, have co-opted the BRAT aesthetic – lime green – for their “brat summer,” which is a time to focus on being the kind of person “who is a little messy, likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes,” in the words of the album’s creator.
Soon after Charli XCX posted her unofficial endorsement, the internet exploded with edits like this one, splicing together videos of Harris’ most popular moments to the tune of Charli XCX songs.
Harris’ official campaign account on X then changed its banner to mimic the style of the album – the banner reads “kamala hq” in lowercase black lettering with a lime green background. The account’s bio reads “providing context,” a nod to a viral video in which Harris quotes her late mother.
“My mother used to, she would give us a hard time sometimes and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’” Harris said in the speech, letting out her signature laugh. “‘You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’”
In the hours after Biden’s announcement, Google searches for “coconut tree” saw a virtually vertical spike.
“project coconut is a go,” read one post on X, referring to the likelihood that Harris will become the Democratic nominee for president. The post has been viewed over 3.5 million times.
The coconut tree meme is popular enough that even elected representatives – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz – all referenced it after Biden dropped out of the race.
Memes are helping Harris amass genuine social media clout among Gen Z, something Biden was never able to tap into. It could help her campaign.
“I like the memes, and I think the memes are funny,” said 24-year-old left-leaning Missouri voter Claire Bilyeu. “I don’t think I would be swayed just based on relatability and memeability, but I like that she’s able to not take herself too seriously.”
Lightness and laughter are something desperately needed in American politics right now, at a time when things are so volatile and divided that the Republican nominee for president narrowly survived an assassination attempt just ten days ago.
Still, Harris’ eccentricity has made her an easy target for Republicans. In December, the Republican National Committee made a 4-minute-long compilation of Harris repeating a now-famous line: “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”
Trump, always quick to nickname rivals, dubbed Harris “Laffin’ Kamala” in reference to her frequent cackling. Last year, he called Harris “weird” in an interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, saying she “is not a president of the United States.”
“She speaks in rhyme, it’s weird. The bus will go here and then the bus will go there because that’s what buses do,” Trump said, referencing a favorite video among Gen Z in which Harris sings the children’s nursery rhyme “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Harris isn’t going to be able to ride a wave of memes to the White House. But as compilations and quips go viral, so do informative videos about Harris’ policy positions, which could theoretically aid her campaign.
“At first, I feel like I didn’t know that much about her. I don’t feel like they had a strong campaign during the vice presidency,” said Bilyeu. “But over the last day, I’ve seen a whole bunch of positive things on TikTok about stuff she’s done, and it’s kind of increasing my confidence.”
Gen Z was a key constituency in 2020, breaking the record for young voter turnout and favoring Biden by over 20 points. But America’s youngest ballot-casters weren’t all that excited to see a Biden-Trump rematch this November, citing dissatisfaction with their options. Now, they have a candidate to get excited about – if only for the entertainment factor.
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