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CO-MEME-DER IN CHIEF
Trump and Harris’ meme-driven campaigns hold dangers for voters & they risk losing support if they push jokes themselves
Memes are expected to play a central role in political discourse for years to come, experts say
PRESIDENTIAL campaigns employ a variety of methods to get their messages across to voters – and social media memes are becoming an increasingly effective tool to push political agendas.
Even before Kamala Harris announced her presidential candidacy for the 2024 election, social media was flooded with videos, comedic images, and musical remixes of the vice president's infamous "coconut tree" speech.
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And since President Joe Biden announced he wouldn't be running for a second term last month, pro-Kamala memes have proliferated on social media platforms such as TikTok, X, and Instagram among liberal Millennial and Gen Z voters.
Harris' team appeared to lean quickly into the digital fanfare by overhauling her campaign's KamalaHQ X account with references to trending memes.
KamalaHQ adopted the lime green branding of Charlie XCX's hit album, Brat, in its cover photo after the British pop star endorsed Harris in a tweet, declaring, "Kamala IS Brat."
The page also updated its bio to read “providing context” in a loose reference to the viral “coconut tree” meme, which stems from a speech she gave at the White House last year.
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In the clip, Harris is seen laughing as she recounts how her mother told her as a child, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
However, the VP and her team have carefully avoided any explicit references to coconut trees, something some on social media have expressed disappointment with.
But Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez, Department Chair & Professor of American Studies at Baylor University, told The U.S. Sun that Harris' campaign strategy may be the more effective and prudent choice.
"Harris’ team claims to be distancing themselves from the memesphere, but her followers share memes [...] It is a good idea to leave meme creation up to voters. It needs to be organic," said Moody-Ramirez.
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The coconut tree meme has developed into a sort of rallying cry and symbol of support of Harris, with young Democrats including coconut and palm tree emojis in their display names and bios to create a symbol of community.
Harris explicitly acknowledging or even adopting the meme herself could halt the momentum gathered so far, Moody-Ramirez warned, making the meme no longer feel organic.
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"They have left it alone because it is a positive message that speaks for itself. Republicans tried to make it negative, but it has been revived this year, and people have taken it to mean don’t forget your roots, respect your elders, and stay tethered to your culture," she said.
"This is a positive message. Harris and her team are leaving the meme-making up to their voters to make sure it is grassroots and authentic."
MEME WARS
Harris' willingness to embrace memes will not only likely help to mobilize younger voters but also help to establish and maintain a strong brand identity, Moody-Ramirez says.
Former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan helped propel him to the White House in 2016 and has continued to maintain an established foothold in American culture ever since.
Harris' pandering to young voters and the gradual development of her own recognizable brand could have a similarly positive result at the polls in November, Moody-Ramirez believes.
That's because often, as voters, we align with politicians based not only on who we like but also on who we think likes or understands us.
Harris' adoption of the #BratSummer viral trend is a key example of how her campaign is attempting to capitalize on the memes of the moment to bridge the generational gap and seek to present her as the "cooler" option of the two candidates.
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According to Charlie XCX, the meaning of “brat” is a kind of "girl who is a little messy and likes to party […] Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown […] is very honest, very blunt, a little bit volatile.”
While those traits do not necessarily fit Harris' image, her association with the term may help to humanize her among younger voters beyond the scope of a typical politician.
As Caroline Leicht recently wrote in a guest column for , "Many voters like to imagine politicians’ private lives and personas in evaluating a candidate to support.
"For instance, many people consider whether they would like to grab a beer with a candidate – a measure of the candidate being down to earth or relatable.
"Among Gen Z and younger Millennials, it is not so much about wanting to have a beer with a candidate, but rather about having fun with a candidate.
"That Harris is considered 'brat' among these voter groups is high praise for the vice-president."
WALZ WADES IN
And it isn't just Harris who is getting the meme treatment.
Her VP-pick Tim Walz has also been meme-ified from the very moment Harris announced the Minnesota Governor as her running mate at the start of the month.
In his case, Walz has drawn comparisons to pop sensation Chappell Roan, because they are both from the Midwest and seemingly rose to prominence in the blink of an eye.
Roan's "Midwest Princess" branding even became the inspiration for a new line of Harris-Walz camouflaged hats.
A photo of Walz cradling a piglet and videos of him spending time with his family have been shared countless times online, with supporters labeling him a candidate with "BDE", or "Big Dad Energy."
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Walz has enjoyed a number of his own viral moments since joining the ticket.
His labeling of Trump, Vance, and other prominent Republicans as "weird" has become an almost campaign slogan for Democrats ahead of November.
The 60-year-old joined TikTok on Friday, debuting on the platform in a video with his dog, Scout, which he branded a "TimTok."
In a speech earlier this month, Walz also uttered a tongue-in-cheek reference to the baseless yet prominent meme suggesting Vance once had sex with a couch.
Walz told a packed crowd in Philidelphia that he’d love to debate Vance, that's "if he's willing to get off the couch."
Pundits widely criticized the remarks but videos of Walz's comments were shared far and wide online.
THE NUMBERS
So far, the numbers seem to reflect that the Harris-Walz strategy is working.
According to Hootsuite, Harris has been mentioned roughly 46 million times across social media platforms in the past 30 days.
That accounts for a 62,800% increase in a little over a month.
Trump, meanwhile, long a social media behemoth, saw about 34 million mentions in the past 30 days.
The biggest spikes in engagement for Trump came around the announcement of JD Vance as his running mate and his X interview with Elon Musk, reported.
Further, Hootsuite data shows that Harris and her VP-pick Tim Walz have slightly less negative sentiment across social media than Trump and Vance.
Harris' seemingly budding popularity is also reflected in her fundraising totals.
In July, the Harris campaign announced it had raised a record-breaking $310 million driven by a record-breaking $200 million in the first week after she replaced Biden.
Two-thirds of those donations came from first-time donors, according to the Harris campaign.
Harris and her team are leaving the meme-making up to their voters to make sure it is grassroots and authentic.
Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez
Ben O'Keefe, CEO of Chaotic Good Media, told the Harris-Walz campaign's mastery of memes is helping them to circumvent traditional media and meet a key voting block where they are: online.
"What I'm seeing is just a real opportunity to embrace an authentic language that resonates with this core demographic that Democrats desperately need to win, but we're not previously capturing," O'Keefe said.
Moody-Ramirez agrees, highlighting how integral memes are becoming to political strategy.
She said, "In a presidential race where social media drives much of the political conversation, Internet memes have emerged as a leading voice of the modern campaign.
"[Memes] are an easy and fast way of sharing cultural content that can go viral. Politicians know people get their news from social media. Memes are funny, but they are also effective in sharing persuasive ideas.
"Studies indicate people are more likely to use social media than traditional news outlets.
"About two-thirds of U.S. adults say they get news at least sometimes from news websites or apps (68%) or search engines like Google (65%) – and that includes memes!"
Younger voters are notoriously unpredictable when it comes to showing up at the polls on election day - and the 2024 election will not be won online, but only at the ballot box.
But Moody-Ramirez is convinced the social media endorsements will translate into votes come November.
She also predicted that memes will become increasingly central to political discourse in the years ahead.
"I think they are here to stay. They are not a fleeting trend," she said.
"For at least a decade, memes have helped facilitate conversation between diverse populations using hashtags on Twitter, subreddits on Reddit, tumblogs on Tumblr, and videos on YouTube.
"Political memes are used to critique and comment on social and political issues, such as elections, food stamps, police violence, and others.
"Voters and supporters know memes are effective. They will continue to use them to support candidates [...] they're free to create and easy to share."
RISKS AND DANGERS
On the other side of the political fence, Trump's supporters – who have been using memes incredibly effectively since the 2016 election cycle – have been circulating the now-iconic fist-bump image of Trump after he survived an assassination attempt last month.
They've also been embracing Hulk Hogan's viral moment from the RNC when the WWE legend tore off his shirt in endorsement of "Trumpmania."
Trump, also, has been a prolific user of social media even before he ran for president.
His red hats have become an iconic symbol of the MAGA movement and even his scowling mugshot stemming from his arrest in Georgia for alleged election fraud has become a meme and symbol of oppression for his devoted followers.
Trump returned to X after a lengthy hiatus this week to launch a new campaign ad questioning the current state of America.
He also held a two-hour live-streamed interview with X owner Elon Musk, which more than 20 million people tuned in for.
Trump later posted an AI video of him and Musk dancing to The Beegies' famed hit, Staying Alive, which raked in more than 800,000 likes on his post alone.
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Many of Trump's aides and even his adult children are avid sharers of memes.
His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., shares them frequently and refers to himself on Instagram as a “Meme Wars General.”
But communicating through memes does come with inherent risks, though.
Conversation on the internet moves incredibly quickly, meaning memes have a very short lifespan and it can backfire spectacularly if a trend is jumped on too late, or if the attempt "to meme" is viewed as forced or inauthentic.
Democrats experienced this firsthand with the "Dark Brandon" memes that were pushed by the Biden Administration that never really caught on.
Memes can also be effective proponents for spreading misinformation and bite-size conspiracies, which can be difficult to dispel after going viral.
"There is always a danger when misinformation can be shared," said Moody-Ramirez.
"The framing of issues has been shown to shape public perceptions of political issues or institutions.
"Memes can [also] be used to frame issues. This is often a strategic means of attracting more supporters and mobilizing collective actions."
Idil Galip, a doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh, and founder of the , told the that deciding whether memes are a force for "good or bad" will largely be determined by how we use them.
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"They're neutral modes of communication," Galip said.
"You can make meaning out of memes depending on what you want to express."
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