As of Sunday, Aug. 11, TikTok account @kamalahq has over 3 million followers, which is no small feat. But it’s not that many people for the account of a public figure like a politician.
What makes Kamala HQ different is that it’s an account dedicated to memes. And it seems to be helping her campaign.
“Cool factor” and vibes may prove essential this November. As Sam Wolfson of the Guardian wrote, “Trump was almost assassinated by a sniper, but what resonated was how cool he looked in AP photos afterwards. Kamala Harris became the first Democratic nominee in modern times not to go through a primary process, but what really landed was Charli xcx tweeting ‘Kamala is brat.’”
A unique feature of the Harris memes is that many did not originate from Harris’ campaign team. For example, one of the most popular memes features images of Harris in contrast to Joe Biden and Donald Trump against the tune of Chappell Roan’s “Femininomenon.”
In contrast to Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign, Harris seems to be using the energy and the jokes to her advantage, while Clinton was often the butt of the joke. In an effort to appeal to millennial voters, Clinton attempted to reference pop culture to seem cool or relatable. As Vice reported in 2015, “a lot of the Vines seem to be making fun of Clinton and her dorky, ‘I’m a cool mom’ vibe.”
Harris has the benefit of comparison to her 2016 predecessor. Clinton was never going to be young and cool, but Harris is young and cool compared to Biden, the way a 90-degree summer day feels “cool” compared to active lava flow.
In 2016, many found the political situation humorous because they didn’t think Trump would actually be elected. Most experts predicted a win for Clinton, according to a 2017 article from the Harvard Gazette.
Many more people in 2016 felt the outcome of the election wouldn’t impact them. Trump’s first term changed that. Marginalized communities were harmed the most, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought politics into the lives of even the most privileged members of society.
Now, many voters are trepidatious about a second Trump term, having seen the first one. Hindsight won the 2020 election.
I still remember 2016. I was in middle school — a terrible age to be during times of political turmoil. I was utterly powerless but beginning to be aware. I also had my first access to social media.
In history class, we watched a now-infamous video of Trump mocking a disabled reporter. I remember a classmate remarking that they “just thought Trump was funny.”
I didn’t think it was funny to mock a disabled person, but I thought the whole ordeal was funny. It was ridiculous. Kanye West was running as a third-party candidate. Trump was trying to hide the fact that he had a toupee. Clinton had just apathetically told voters to “Pokemon Go to the polls.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The energy changed on election night, though. My parents let me stay up late to watch the election results. I suspect my mother, noticing my burgeoning interest in politics and feminism, wanted me to see the first woman be elected president in real time.
When it was Trump who won, it was like all the air left the room at once. I asked my mother if this was a joke. She told me to go to bed.
The next morning at school, I saw a boy who had been my best friend in elementary school. He was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. A chasm opened between him and I — we lived in different worlds and by different principles. Wordlessly, that friendship ended, right then and there in early November 2016.
I didn’t think I’d ever find politics “fun” again. I’d find them fascinating. I’d find them ridiculous, I’d find them shocking and sometimes I might even find them funny in a sort of grim, gallows humor way.
Every four years, I’d feel like a gambler who just bet the house and the car on a pony race, biting my nails in front of a TV screen and counting to 270 in my head over and over again. But never again would they be fun.
Until now.
As scared as I sometimes am, I find the memes charming, exciting and dare I say fun.
Harris has her flaws, as does every politician. University of New Mexico alum A.J. Schumman specifically noted that the Democrats need to take more accountability regarding Harris’ history as a prosecutor and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
“I do worry that these memes may obscure some of the more contentious elements of her record,” Schumman said.
However, there is an energy behind Harris that candidates like Clinton and Biden never had. That energy has translated into real numbers.
When Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, over 38,000 Americans registered to vote, with the majority being between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the Hill. There’s some new excitement, where before, there was dread.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
