“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
The Kamala HQ TikTok account has become a key platform for Kamala Harris’s candidacy, using viral moments like the “coconut tree” remark to connect with younger voters as she seeks to become president
Many social media users have encountered Harris’s “coconut tree” speech and her distinctive laugh, which went viral and quickly became a meme. Users edited it into songs and referenced it across platforms.
The Republican Party saw this as a way to criticize Harris. The GOP Youtube account posted the “Coconut Tree” clip claiming how Democratic politicians often “slip-up” and “they are not fit to run the country”.
The video has since made 430,000 views and counting.
Yet even while the Republican Party tried to criticize the Democrats, the majority of people watching these critique videos were Democrats.
And the only reason Democrats are watching is to then criticize Republicans; it’s a cycle.
“I think for a really long time Democrats were known as the intellectuals,” Madeleine Summervile, an attorney and political analyst said. “They would make fun of Republicans because they talk slowly and are less educated. But Democrats don’t do that anymore. We are more socially conscious. Still, nothing is targeted at the existing base, everything is for undecided voters, which tend to be Gen-Z. People who were on the line just needed an extra push.”
Harris might just have the push the undecided Gen-Z voters need.
Harris is the first African, Asian and female Vice President of the United States of America, and she could very well be the first Female and Asian President. Harris and her team making Gen-Z related TikToks while the topic at hand is so serious has caught the attention of her wanted audience; “young people”.
The Kamala HQ account started when Biden’s account ended on July 25. But the rise started only three videos later. She posted a TikTok with Lance Bass, former NSYNC member, quoting the band’s song “Bye, bye, bye” in response to seeing Trump in November.
That video now has over 4.6 million likes and 55 million views.
The account has rapidly grown since its start. Currently, the Kamala HQ TikTok account is standing at 4.6 million followers and 150 million likes. On average her videos attain over a million views, with her most popular reaching 10 million.
Many famous TikTokers and celebrities have openly spoken about Harris, some even fully endorsing her.
Spencer Hunt, a famous TikToker with over 16 million followers, has openly talked and posted about Harris, providing information about her policies and goals.
Even Taylor Swift endorsed Harris after the presidential debate on Sep. 10, 2024, posting four paragraphs on her personal Instagram account explaining why she is voting blue. “I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” said Swift. “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. “
Swift’s endorsements flooded the Vote.gov website with over 400,000, prompting Donald Trump to post “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on X the same day.
So, not only is Harris’ marketing team aiming for Gen-Z voters, but their influencers. Her marketing team and Harris herself, understand how information is spread on social media.
By catering to the younger generations, their trends and language, Harris gains more ballots with her name on it.
“Kamala Harris understands the younger voting generation more, “ first time voter Max Sandoval said. “She uses social media as a tool to target our generation and share her platform with us. Instead of patronizing us, she acknowledges that we are a generation that has a voice and values our political views.”
One reason for Harris turning to celebrities could be how easily they grab one’s attention. To no one’s surprise, Hunt’s most watched videos are his “Daily Screams”. Hunt spends up to five minutes explaining the information in a way Gen-Z will understand. It’s almost like Gen-Z speaks in a different language and Harris is learning how to speak it.
On Kamala HQ, almost every video is a meme. Of course the page has serious videos talking about Harris’s values and messages, as well as some poking at Trump and Vance, yet the Gen-Z videos are still the ones attracting the most attention.
The summer of 2024 was deemed a “brat summer”, referring to Charli XCX’s new album, “brat”.
Kamala HQ ran far with this. The account changed their X banner to be in the format of XCX’s album cover, leading to XCX herself calling Harris “brat” in a tweet.
Following the theme of Gen-Z artists, Harris has heavily collaborated with pop artist Chappell Roan.
For months Roan and Harris fans have been making edits of Harris to the Roan song “Femininomenon”.
Femininomenon is a made up word of “feminine” and “phenomenon”, meaning a feminine phenomenon.
The edits are to show that “what we really need is a feminiomenon”.
Many celebrities think Harris is the Femininomenon young people need.
On July 22, 2024 HQ posted a TikTok slideshow of the meme. The post is now the HQ’s most watched video, reaching 58.8 million views and 7.6 million likes.
Additionally, Harris had many celebrities at the Democratic National Convention, ranging from athletes to artists including P!nk, Stevie Wonder, Mindy Kailing, Kenan Thompson, Steph Curry, Megan Thee Stallion and Oprah Winfrey.
And although Beyoncé couldn’t make it, she has given her full support by allowing Harris to use her song “Freedom” in many of Harris’s campaign ads and on the trail.
On the other side, Trump has been banned from using music from dozens of artists including Beyoncé, Celine Dion, the Foo Fighters, Queen, Rolling Stones, Rihanna and Adele.
Harris’s TikTok HQ has made a huge difference in the 2024 election, shifting who voters — especially young ones — will cast their ballot for. Her HQ has a mix of Gen-Z humor and political staples like ads, press conferences and rallies.
Mixing the two seems to be greatly helping Harris.
Her adept use of social media and the “young people”, as Harris’s mother Shyamala Gopalan would say, certainly put her in the context of all of what she lived in and came before her.
The abridged version of this article appeared in the Fall 2024 print edition. This is an uncut version.
