In the days after President Joe Biden abandoned his bid for a second term, Vice President Kamala Harris’ name became synonymous with coconut trees and “brat summer.”
Social media users inundated platforms like X and TikTok with Harris memes featuring coconut trees and songs from pop star Charli XCX’s newest album “brat,” both usually done in support of the vice president who is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
The memes reference a speech Harris gave last year and the singer’s apparent support of Harris’s candidacy.
Some hope the online attention, spearheaded by Generation Z, will energize young voters to head to the polls in November.
“Young people are loving it so much,” said Emily Dorman, 17, a student at Orlando Science High School, “because it was really created by young people, and it’s mobilizing young people to really get involved.”
But experts warn that excitement on social media doesn’t always translate into votes. Some teenagers delighting in the online excitement may be too young to vote. Emily, though a member of the Florida High School Democrats, cannot go to the polls in November.
Young people are never a reliable voting bloc, and some note that whatever momentum Harris gains from the online craze might not last until election day. Still, others worry that the memes are silly and undercut Harris’ real messages as she seeks to defeat former President Donald Trump.
The images and videos include mentions of a “coconut tree,” a reference to a 2023 speech Harris gave at the White House in which she recalled a phrase her mother often told her.
“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, laughing during the speech. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
After Biden announced he would not run again and endorsed Harris, her “coconut tree” comment was suddenly everywhere.
Web searches for the term “coconut tree” grew exponentially in the last week, Google trends show. Searches for Charli XCX are also trending after the artist declared on X that “Kamala IS brat” — a positive term in reference to the singer’s newest album, “brat.”
Young voters have historically low turnout rates, but their numbers might increase thanks to Harris’ online popularity, said Kate Fraser, a Florida State University student.
That shows she’s in tune with Gen Z, the 19-year-old said.
“People weren’t as inclined” to vote before “or would be going into the polls kind of gritting their teeth,” Fraser said. “But I think this gave us a new breath of fresh air.”
Videos popping up on social media remix Harris’ voice to songs from “brat” and overlay her photo with the album’s lime green cover art.
The campaign is embracing the memes. Kamala HQ, the campaign’s official X account, changed its banner to feature a lime green background and black font reminiscent of the “brat” album cover. The campaign’s TikTok account is captioned “Providing context,” a reference to Harris’ full “coconut tree” quote telling people to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Erik Nisbet, a political communication professor at Northwestern University, warned that leaning too far into the memes could hurt Harris’ campaign.
“If there’s organic memes out there, you might try to amplify them,” he said. “But actually controlling or creating your own memes as a campaign? No, that’s not an effective strategy.”
Young voters crave authenticity, Nisbet added, and trying too hard to reach them will ultimately push them away.
Harris and the “coconut tree” first went viral in May 2023 after Republican social media accounts like “GOP War Room” on YouTube clipped and posted it online. They claimed Harris sounded drunk and laughed erratically and shared it to criticize her.
But since Biden’s announcement, Democrats and other Harris supporters have made it their own and a symbol of support.
J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois who analysts considered a possible replacement for Biden, responded on X to suggestions that he was running by writing, “You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?”
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, posted on X a photo of himself scaling a coconut tree with the caption, “Madam Vice President, we are ready to help.”
Both parties are likely to continue to meme-ify Harris’ images and comments, Nisbet said, each with the intention of making her seem more or less likable.
“This is meme warfare,” he said.
Harris’ age — 20 years younger than Biden’s — and her speaking abilities make her more attractive among younger voters than Biden, said TJ Briskey, 21, a student at Florida Atlantic University.
“We have an officially convicted felon going up against a former prosecutor,” Briskey said. “This is the meme of the century.”
But Aiden Israeli, 18, a University of Central Florida student, said many of Harris’ online fans are too young to vote. She doesn’t see a future where Harris is elected president, she said, so the bigger focus of the campaign is to elect a Democratic majority to Congress.
Her friend, fellow UCF student Sophie Van Houten, 18, agreed and said Harris should focus on marketing to older voters.
“She’s losing her credibility,” Israeli said. “And she’s not promoting any of her policies, her ideals or anything that she’ll actually do.”
For Dominic Tichio, another UCF student, Harris and her memes won’t compel him to vote this year — though he thinks they’ll attract other Gen Z voters. Tichio, 20, plans to go to the polls to support Amendment 4, a ballot measure that would protect abortion rights.
“That’s probably the only thing that would make me want to go to the voting polls,” Tichio said.
Although Democratic support for Harris is climbing, the election is far from decided, said David Macdonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida.
“Twitter or social media is not real life,” Macdonald said. “If young voters were truly this unstoppable force in American politics, Bernie Sanders would be president right now.”
Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020 and was popular among younger voters for his far-left policies.
Another UF political science professor, Michael McDonald, agreed, saying he’s unsure the coconut and brat buzz will translate into high young voter turnout.
“It’s difficult to get young people to vote,” McDonald said. “So if this is the event that will crack that, I would be very surprised.”
