Kamala Is Brat, Explained

And so, since you are now educated, you now understand what she meant. Charli is telling her fans—and the collective adherents of brat summer—that to be a brat, you have to be on board with Harris. It’s that simple.

What does the internet think?

Obsessed, of course. Kamala has never been so brat.

People are even replacing the “I’m so Julia,” line in the Brat song “360” with “I’m so Kamala,” which is a campaign slogan if I’ve ever heard one.

Why should I care?

Earlier I wrote when discussing the coconut-tree meme: “Not to be hyperbolic, but I actually think this is changing Harris’s public perception—for the better.*” But now, like, I really don’t think I’m exaggerating.

Pop culture is culture, and culture really is just the collective output of society. As Harris would (maybe) say, elections exist in the context of all which came before it, or rather exist in the context of larger American society. We don’t vote in a vacuum. If people are now seeing Harris as a funny and, dare I say, cool, Coconut Queen of Brat Summer, it may actually make them want to vote for her. It could have an impact.

It’s especially interesting because out of all the image building her team did and has done of Harris as a politician, prosecutor, aunt, wife, and “Momala,” this version and perception of her is what seems to be breaking through to people. Prior to Biden’s debate performance, people online seemed to be either indifferent to Harris or derided her as cringe. Some didn’t like her prosecution record as a district attorney and later attorney general in California, calling her a “cop.”

But for various reasons the tide has turned. I’m no pollster, but I’ve become convinced that the memeification of Harris is making a lot of young potential voters actually excited about the possibility of her becoming president, creating enthusiasm that the Democratic party really needs right now.

*I still have no actual evidence of this.

Has Harris responded to all this?

I’ve become further convinced that this whole thing is good for Harris’s campaign by the way those running her strategy have responded to it: They’ve embraced it. Yes, a presidential campaign that understands internet culture and can engage with it, what a concept! (Sorry, Dark Brandon, but no.)

Almost immediately after Charli’s tweet, the Twitter (okay, X.com) account formerly known as @BidenHQ rebranded to @KamalaHQ and included a Brat meme in the rebrand.