Has VP Harris’ planted her ‘coconut trees’ in Spokane? Here’s what it could mean for young voters during the ‘Brat’ season

Three months before Vice President Kamala Harris found herself in the middle of a recent social media blowup referencing the green-colored Charli xcx album “Brat,” Spokane resident Lucy Reed dyed parts of her dark hair lime green.

Back then, Reed, 25, had no idea she’d be staring into a presidential campaign that quickly mobilized around the younger generation’s knack for light-hearted comedy, pop music and apparently, coconut trees.

Now, she said, she’s voting for Harris.

Social media users began flooding the internet with humorous photos and memes of Harris during a two-week period when other Democrats started calling for U.S. President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. On Sunday, he notified the American public in a statement he would “stand down” from the race “in the best interest of my party and the country.” Biden endorsed Harris shortly after, and Harris announced she would run against former President Donald Trump if her party selects her as its nominee.

The internet exploded with even more content: Edits, humorous photos and “fan cams” of Harris have completely captivated the masses of X. Videos of Harris speaking or laughing were woven into songs from English singer Charli xcx’s “Brat” album. And Charli xcx even wrote on her social media account, “kamala IS brat” (“Brat” means being a “very honest, very blunt” person who “feels herself,” according to the popstar during a TikTok interview from earlier this month).

The post put fans into overdrive with 51 million views and 40,000 reposts on X.

The former Biden-Harris headquarters also rebranded as “Kamala HQ” this week, even fit with a lime-green, “Brat”-themed header on X. The account has also been reposting the viral video edits of Harris, which told Reed that her team “caught on” to what’s appealing to the younger generation fairly quickly.

“I think her marketing is so good. She’s very smart in targeting Gen Z,” Reed said. “Whoever’s on her team is very enlightened on what is popular.”

Social media users also got ahold of a May 2023 video of Harris in which she gave a speech at a White House event meant to engage young Hispanic Americans. Harris starts to talk about what she learned from her mother, biomedical scientist and activist Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who told her at the time about living in the context of “what came before you.”

“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 at the time as she laughed.

The “coconut tree” line was immediately edited into songs from Charli xcx, as well as Harris’ energetic laugh. One TikTok of Harris with the popstar’s song “365” in the background has 1.6 million likes. Music star Kesha even threw her hat in the ring when she made a video dancing to her own song edited in with Harris’ laugh this week.

People have more excitement and enthusiasm going into the 2024 election now after Biden dropped out, which “feels like Obama 2008,” said Dave Karpf, a George Washington University public affairs professor who studies internet politics and political campaigning.

“We haven’t had a moment like this since then.”

Young Spokane voters are quick to analyze their share of online content

Reed didn’t vote in 2020. She was too stressed about the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, and didn’t have a permanent address at the time. This year, she had planned to “unenthusiastically” vote for Biden, but when Harris stepped in, it changed her mind. The internet exploding with Harris memes also gave her more enthusiasm to vote, because Reed felt like Harris’ energy was more relatable for younger generations.

It also prompted Reed to do more research about the person plastered all over her TikTok.

“Before, I just knew she was VP,” Reed said. “But now I am more excited about her and her ability to debate with Trump, too, because that was such an issue with Biden.”

In the 2020 election, Reed didn’t see as much humorous enthusiasm online for either Biden or Trump. This year, it’s completely different.

“I’ve never seen as many supportive memes,” Reed said. “It’s crazy … It’s just a different level of excitement.”

Spokane resident Deven Balding, 22, hasn’t decided who he’s voting for yet – but he said he believes the influence of social media on young voters is likely higher now than ever before. When Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, Balding said he first found out about it from a meme on social media. It’s not swaying his opinion any, but it has definitely changed how he gets information, he said. If Balding does see something humorous on social media, he will often follow it up with research to educate himself.

When Charli xcx posted her endorsement of Harris, Balding said it was “awesome” – merely because people using large platforms to spread a message can be a good thing.

The younger generation seems highly influenced by comedy, Balding said, which is why the jovial edits of Harris tend to resonate so well.

The culture surrounding the memes and humorous content in order to spread information or explore political ideas also has appeared to increase over the past four years since the last election.

“I think memes just continue to grow and mean different things and adapt to the environment,” Balding said. “It’s based on relevancy to the people creating them, which is the younger generation.

“Voting is important, too. Look past the memes and read up on platforms. Educate yourself.”

Two first-year Gonzaga University students walking through campus Tuesday agreed the social media aspect is an easier way to connect with young people because it’s more accessible and quick. They’re more inclined to click on a 20-second video than watch the 6 p.m. news.

When the Kamala HQ page changed into a “Brat” theme,  18-year-old Matt Kennedy said it was for the purpose of being “relatable.”

“That like that point of relation, especially post Biden, who is older … I think that resonated with a lot of people,” Kennedy said. In the last two elections, he described himself as being “locked in” to what was going on – but he’s seen the landscape around information flowing on social media grow since.

Kennedy and his friend Gretchen Brant haven’t decided who to vote for yet. Both said while the memes themselves might not sway their vote, it does make them want to learn more.

“(The TikToks) aren’t always thorough, but makes people want to get involved,” Brant said. “It also helps us understand who they are. You get differing opinions. You get more sides to things.”

Rachelle Kagoma, a 19-year-old Spokane resident, said it makes sense younger generations connect with the online humor  because they don’t typically want to spend their free time watching presidential debates – but often spare time for social media.

“(The Harris memes) are a way we have a connection with the youth and all that,” Kagoma said, “The younger generation is getting more into it with politics because of the jokes.”

Kagoma, who is a first-time voter, believes the social media blowup could help convince the younger generation to vote. Bringing humor into a campaign is more appealing, she said, and provides a sense of unity among citizens who haven’t felt that before in the political sphere.

“America just went through COVID-19,” Kagoma said. “TikTok and the memes all coming together is a way we cope and connect with each other.”

Malaze Juma, 18, will be voting for Harris if she secures the Democratic nomination.

Juma and Kagoma agree that the playful side of politicians is often hidden from the public, but “her laughing, even in the memes, shows the bright side,” Juma said.

The humanization of the Harris campaign by connecting with youth through memes reassures young people that they will have a say and a choice in the future of America, Kagoma added.

Both teens admitted they were scared to vote when Biden and Trump were the two options in the November election, but now they “feel like we have a chance.”

“The fact that not only is she a woman, but she’s also a Black woman running for president, that just says a lot,” Juma said. “Everything in our generation is changing.”

Can social media sway an election?

TikTok users are already claiming the virality and “relatability” of Harris online has fast-tracked her into the presidency. But it might not be that simple, Karpf said.

“What we know from the research is that social media doesn’t tend to translate directly to votes,” he said. The American election cycle is long, and there are still about 100 days left in comparison to other countries like Australia, who has a six-week election cycle. People can donate and volunteer, but they can’t vote just yet.

But, he said, the way social media is being used can be beneficial for extending political awareness. Typically, political organizations have an audience that “self-selects,” or chooses to be part of it due to their affiliation or interests. It’s when a celebrity like Charli xcx endorses Harris that the awareness “spreads,” Karpf said, because the popstar’s audience follows her for her music, not her political beliefs.

“What happens when someone like her decides to say, ‘Kamala is brat,’ and then her listeners freak out and enjoy it, it spreads that piece of political attention to people who may not decide to pay attention to politics,” Karpf said. “Social media in this way can be really good for extending political awareness beyond the usual suspects … It’s difficult in the modern environment to reach the mass public.”

When former President Barack Obama came around after four years of the George W. Bush administration by 2008, people wanted someone different to “pour hope” into.

“It was a broader cultural phenomenon,” Karpf said. “And you can’t manufacture that.”

More organic excitement is being released after years of what felt like “bottled-up anxiety,” he said.

“It’s like having a bottle of soda you keep shaking and not opening up,” Karpf said. “There’s energy waiting to be released.”

So in the buildup leading to Biden stepping down, Karpf said he began seeing the coconut tree memes, which indicated voters were getting more excited about a possibility other than Biden taking over the country. Before Harris, he said, there wasn’t a lot to be excited about or feel represented by – both Trump and Biden were significantly older than the average of their base, which didn’t translate well to younger voters.

“We now have avatars of youth culture showing up in a way they haven’t,” Karpf said. “That generates enthusiasm, shifts the mood of the campaign and changes the story that gets told at the election.”

Jim Hedemark is a longtime political consultant in Spokane and advises state representative candidate Michael Schmidt. Hedemark has been active in politics since 1994, when he was 20 years old working for Tom Foley, who represented Washington’s fifth district for 30  years.

Back then, he said, there was no social media to use for voter outreach. It was all done by door-knocking and making calls.

“That was really the extent of our social media – the phonebook,” Hedemark said. The press secretary would’ve been “the original blog,” and the center of a campaign would be through the people in the field. Now, the most “daunting” task is finding a space to stand out in, he said.

Hedemark believes at times social media can be somewhat concerning, because young people need to be able to fact-check where information from a TikTok or X post came from. It’s also an “unforgiving” world once your opinion is out on the internet for all to see.

But for political consultants, it’s important that politicians have the ability to reach audiences, Hedemark said.

He joked that “people like me” are having to learn to adjust to the times, and often seek advice from politically involved, younger people on how to get the best messaging to their crowds.

“It’s accessible. Young people are driving that conversation, which is tremendous,” Hedemark said. “If young people are finding value in it, then there’s been nothing greater for democracy.”