Kamala Harris, the former vice president and the current candidate in the US presidential election, has been known for her unique campaigns. By using memes like the “coconut trees” and “Kamala is a brat,” she targets the youth vote. Kamala HQ’s effort to take a step back from the previous demographics of political mudslinging and use social media platforms distinguished Harris from other candidates.
With former presidential candidate Joe Biden pulling out from the race on July 21, Harris has been nominated as the candidate of the Democratic party. Since then, her actions sparked controversy on the internet: some acknowledged her political persona as approachable and unique while others criticized her for being senseless.
An emerging trend among Harris’s supporters has been using the coconut and palm tree emoji to display their support. The coconut tree meme started with a clip of Harris’s speech as vice president going viral on TikTok, where she said, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” While the Republicans try to use this trend against Harris, claiming that she is intoxicated, the Democrats are actively utilizing the coconut and palm tree emojis to advocate for her presidential nomination.
“I also saw some of those memes about Kamala Harris on TikTok,” Yegene Hwang (10), member of Global Issue Network (GIN), said. “I think using social media especially captivates the younger voters who are predominant users of SNS and often tired of the political targeting done by Biden and Trump.”
The election campaign of Kamala Harris drew much attention from the younger generations regardless of their previous interest in politics. According to the Axios/Generation Lab poll, 45 percent of the Gen Z and millennial voters have very approving or at least somewhat favorable opinions on Harris. This phenomenon reinforces the significance of Harris in the 2024 election as younger generations were also key to Biden securing his victory in 2020.
“Kamala Harris using SNS is a very unique and interesting measure because no other president had ever done so,” Daniel Hwang (9), avid follower of American politics, said. “There is no possible loss for Harris while there is much for her to gain through SNS.”
Though Harris’s campaigns are appraised as affable for those of younger generations, there is much more to be considered within the 2024 presidential election.
“Harris has certainly energized the base and seems to be motivating young people to show up at the polls; no easy task because they are notoriously unreliable in terms of turnout,” James Kowalski, US History teacher at SIS, said. “But she also knows that she has to bring suburbia and swing state voters into the mix, so it’s a balancing act. I think she is trying very carefully to identify as a Democrat and to demonstrate values and priorities that are traditionally in line with the Democratic Party, but not alienate moderates and undecided voters in the process.”
As the US presidential election takes on new dynamics with the involvement of Kamala Harris, the verdict of the 2024 election remains uncertain. Still, the influence of both candidates, Trump and Harris, remain within and without the US despite their difference in campaigning methods.
