Just hours after President Biden dropped out of the race, a parody of Charlie XCX’s album cover “Brat” appeared in a banner on Harris’ campaign’s X account.
The next day, Charlie XCX described the vice president as a “cocky brat” and justified the Democratic candidate’s hardline shift in digital strategy.
In the weeks since, KamalaHQ, the 2024 Democratic presidential campaign’s digital response team, has been stoking excitement on TikTok with a variety of viral soundbites. teasing Choose a vice president, Trending Jab To Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
And each video posted to KamalaHQ TikTok garners hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of likes.
“It’s working,” TikTok creator Christian Divine (@xiandivyne), who has 600,000 followers, told The Hill. “It’s just bringing more people like Kamala Harris.”
But just as quickly as the wave of support for Harris surged, it could also fade quickly. Three weeks into the campaign, it’s still unclear whether the enthusiasm for Harris, both online and at mass rallies, will last into November.
The Internet can be unforgiving, and one memorable gaffe can make a politician an “embarrassment” overnight.
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign saw its online momentum plummet after its “Pokémon to the polls” moment.
“It’s an iconic moment that will be remembered forever as a campaign worker,” said a spokesman for Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC that focuses on digital communications.
Clinton appeared on Ellen’s show and urged Americans to get to the polls in November, making a bold reference to the then-popular mobile app “Pokemon Go.”
The clip was cut and splattered all over the Internet, and while some people laughed with Clinton, many more laughed at her.
“Hillary Clinton at the time was bringing up something that she or her team had heard that had absolutely nothing to do with her,” Devine said. “Fundamentally, it’s not a very funny joke.”
So how does Harris avoid embarrassing moments? The answer lies in cultural fluency.
“A great social media campaign is one that understands your ideal target audience and can communicate a message to that audience that is credible based on the message, the communicator, the tone and the method of delivery,” explains Daniel Butterfield, executive director of Priorities USA.
Harris’ supporters have warned people online not to take the “brat” label too far. TikTok Videos It has received over 1 million views and 190,000 likes.
“[P]”I wonder if someone on Kamala’s team has the sense to make sure she never does the Apple dance. The meme is fun at the moment but I worry it will descend into Pokemon levels of embarrassment if that happens,” the user wrote, as the aforementioned Charlie XCX song “Apple” plays in the background.
The Apple Dance is a spin-off of a trend that grew out of the “Brat” album.
Hundreds of commenters commented on the Kamala HQ account with their own suggestions for preventing the campaign-destroying gaffe.
“I think if she gets too involved it could become more embarrassing,” Devine said. “It seems like the silly, fun part of what her friends are doing, and it needs to remain that way.”
The Harris campaign said its digital team is made up of 175 DNC and campaign staffers, including a mobilization team responsible for social media strategy that is made up entirely of Gen Z members.
It’s clear to people online that Harris is not a social media strategist, and that’s a good thing.
Another element of cultural fluidity is appearing sincere to your audience: One reason no one wants to see Harris take the initiative or film a video for her KamalaHQ account is because people know the 59-year-old Democratic leader has likely never heard of the trends being mentioned, and pretending that she has could have tragic consequences.
“I think a lot of the time when it’s embarrassing it’s because it’s so far removed from reality,” says Allie O’Brien (@allie_202_), a 23-year-old TikTok influencer with more than 550,000 followers.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), immediately pushed the envelope in his first speech as the vice presidential candidate, when he referenced a now-debunked meme that Vance had had sex with a couch.
“I honestly can’t wait to debate this guy,” he said to thunderous applause. “If only he’d be willing to get up off the couch and show up!”
The joke went viral, with even KamalaHQ posting Repost Bit. Virus TikTok VideosWhen asked if she had shared the meme with her father, Waltz’s daughter, Hope, shrugged sheepishly.
“Kamala Harris is engaging with the culture in a way that she knows how, and other people are making Kamala Harris a ‘brat,’ right? Kamala Harris didn’t stand up and say, ‘I’m a brat,'” Devine pointed out.
Online politics can also get complicated when politicians turn against the platforms that helped make them popular.
Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-DC), who gained popularity during the 2022 midterm elections for his videos explaining policies and politics in an easy-to-understand way, faced strong backlash for his support of banning TikTok.
“He’s built up goodwill through his use of TikTok,” Devine explained, “and it’s kind of a hypocritical moment to vote for something that he didn’t expect people to support.”
Within 24 hours, Jackson had lost 100,000 followers. Things got so bad that he filmed an apology video explaining his vote, which drew further political backlash.
Harris’ campaign has said it does not want to ban TikTok but would like to see a change in ownership. Biden signed a bill in April that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to either sell or face a U.S. ban.
But a more immediate concern is how the campaign will connect with users in the run up to November, and social media experts say the biggest threat to the Harris campaign’s rapid spread is a lack of content.
“Our theory is that the conversation needs to move to content, issues and contrasts,” Butterfield said. “Ultimately, voters make decisions at the ballot box based on which candidate they think will make their lives better.”
“I think the enthusiasm for the new candidate is coming to an end,” O’Brien said, “and there’s starting to be a curiosity about what exactly you’re supporting that we haven’t heard yet.”
The campaign’s digital team has limited resources to work with: Three weeks into the campaign, Harris has yet to release a comprehensive policy plan or add an issues tab to her campaign website.
Instead, her campaign has publicly backtracked on some of the more progressive policy positions she has championed on past campaigns, including a ban on fracking, gun buybacks to defund police and universal health care.
For the broadly progressive online generation, the lack of substantive issues could become a problem in the future.
O’Brien highlighted the Gaza war as one area where campaigns could aim to tackle the issue online.
“The virus has been spreading continuously in Palestine for months now, since October, but they have not been able to harness that energy,” they said.
Harris’ campaign denied any suggestion she might abide by the arms embargo after meeting briefly with leaders of the no-holds-barred movement at a rally in Detroit on Wednesday.
For now, Kamala HQ is focused on trashing Trump-Vance and building a cult of personality around Harris, and judging by their success so far, her social media team already looks like the vanguard of the Democratic Party.
“I can only imagine that people are going to pick up on this and try to recreate this by hiring specific social media managers for their own campaigns,” Devine said.
“Unfortunately, I think that’s going to be the future and it’s going to be very embarrassing.”
