Coconut trees & ‘Brat’: Here’s what the Kamala Harris and Charli XCX memes mean
The internet just can’t get enough of Kamala Harris.
Chatter about the vice president has exploded in recent days, and it’s not just because she’s a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.
No, it’s much more than that.
Coconut trees are involved. So is British musician Charli XCX.
Confused? Worry not.
Welcome to Kamala Harris Memes 101. Get out your notebooks. Class is in session.
Kamala Harris and coconut trees
“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
That line has been shared in many a meme over the past few days. But Harris said it more than a year ago.
In May 2023, Harris was delivering a speech at the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.
The vice president spoke about the significant effect mentors have on their students and the importance of equity in education.
“Part of the extension of the work you will do is, yes, focused on our young leaders and our young people, but understanding we also then have to be clear about the needs of their parents and their grandparents and their teachers and their communities, because none of us just live in a silo,” Harris said. “Everything is in context.”
Heard.
So, here’s your context.
Directly after that statement about considering the needs of students and their teachers and families, Harris gave a personal anecdote:
- “My mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes, and 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?’ You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
And then she laughed.
That’s all the internet needed. Cue the memes.
This one has the coconut line and shows clips of the vice president dancing (more on that later).
If y’all think this is just for the youths, you’re wrong. Politicians joined in:
- J.B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, used the line in a tweet, commenting on rumors about his political career: “You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?”
- Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, used the coconut, palm tree and American flag emojis to show support for Harris in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
- Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii actually posted a picture of himself climbing a coconut tree. OK, flex.
Kamala Harris, Charli XCX and ‘brat’
There’s a British artist called Charli XCX. (You might be familiar with her work. Back in 2014, her song “Boom Clap” was featured in the film “The Fault in Our Stars,” which was based on the John Green novel of the same name.)
Anyway, in June, she released an album called “BRAT,” which, as of publication, is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums. The cover is simple — just a bright green background with “brat” plastered front and center. Similar designs have appeared on several of the artist’s albums.
On Sunday, in case y’all forgot, Biden shared something that quickly dominated the headlines.
Well, he wasn’t the only one active on social media that day. Charli XCX was there, too. Exhibit A:
So, Kamala is brat, got it. But what does that mean?
- “A little messy”
- “Likes to party”
- “Says some dumb, like, things sometimes”
- “Feels herself”
- “Maybe has a breakdown, but kind of like parties through it”
We’re not making this up. Here it is, straight from the horse’s mouth:
But wait, there’s more.
Y’all need to know about another X account, which was created in 2015. It’s @KamalaHQ.
The bio on said account is “Providing context.” (See: Kamala Harris and coconut trees.) But the cover photo of @KamalaHQ is a reference to the Charli XCX album “brat.” Same green, same black typeface, front and center.
Whatever your feelings about “Brat” the album or brat the girly, seems like Harris’ campaign has embraced the identity.
Kamala Harris dancing
Clips of Harris bustin’ moves are everywhere.
- Some of them were taken from this video, where Harris is dancing as a marching band covered Sheila E’s “Glamorous Life.”
- There’s also the time when Harris was dancing at an event she hosted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
We could show you plenty of examples — some even compare Harris’ moves to those of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump with Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” playing in the background — but this TikTok is the trifecta, the holy trinity of the Kamala memes, if you will. It combines the dancing, Charli XCX (the video is set to the song “360,” one of the tracks on the “Brat” album) and the coconut tree.
The News & Observer’s audience growth intern Gabriella Hartlaub contributed to this story.
This story was originally published July 23, 2024 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Coconut trees & ‘Brat’: Here’s what the Kamala Harris and Charli XCX memes mean."
