Mina Ko ‘25, News Editor

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, Images Courtesy of FOX 5 NY and Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is a “brat,” President Joe Biden announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he would not seek a second Democratic nomination, and former President Donald Trump posted over 25,000 tweets during his time in office. What ties these moments together? The growing role of social media. Today, presidential campaigns have shifted from traditional mediums like conferences and newspapers to platforms such as X and TikTok.

Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has adopted a fresh approach to her campaign by highlighting the age gap between herself, former President Trump, and President Biden. She’s embracing social media trends and viral memes to connect with younger voters. Her campaign, “Kamala HQ”, is run by Gen Z staffers, and popular posts feature memes and remixes like “brat summer,” “femininomenon,” and “coconut tree.” As of August 9th, Kamala HQ had garnered over 462 million views. On the night President Biden endorsed Harris, British singer-songwriter Charli XCX posted on X, saying “Kamala IS brat,” — a nod to Charli’s latest album. Shortly after, the official Harris campaign account changed its header to mirror the album cover.

Similarly, the bio on Harris’ campaign account, “Providing context,” is a reference to a viral meme from a 2023 speech where she stated, “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.” While this speech was initially used by her political opponents to paint her as incompetent, Harris’ campaign has turned this narrative around, transforming the quote into a popular motto among her supporters.

After September’s presidential debate, both Harris and Trump claimed victory on their respective social media platforms. While there’s no factual way to determine a clear “winner” or “loser,” these declarations are made to an audience that consumes content filtered by algorithms, which reinforces existing biases. For example, a person following one candidate may never see posts from the opposing candidate. Negotiations for a second presidential debate are even happening on X, with Harris tweeting, ‘We owe it to the voters to have another debate.”

In August, over 200 content creators, both those known for political content and those from other niches, were credentialed for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. The 2024 DNC set a record for the highest number of content creators ever attended at a political convention.

Content creator Deja Foxx, who has nearly 142,000 followers on TikTok, was invited to speak on the first night of the DNC as a reproductive rights advocate. She emphasized, “Not only is this campaign strategy effective at reaching young people, but it also signals what many young people want to hear: that we hear you, and we are going to invite you into the room.”

Celebrity endorsements have also become a major focus in this election cycle. On September 10, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris on her Instagram account, which has over 284 million followers. The move was strategic — Swift was born in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state. She timed the endorsement for maximum impact, just before the voter registration deadline. In her post, she included a link to register, and hundreds of thousands of people visited the website through her link. Shortly after her endorsement, voter registration surged, with over 10,000 API requests for voter registration checks. It is important to note, however, that Swift’s endorcement came after the 2024 presidential debate which also had an impact on these numbers.

Voter Registration Verification API Spiking After Taylor Swift’s Endorsement, Image courtesy of TargetSmart

This conversation only begins to touch on how deeply intertwined social media and politics have become. It’s important to reflect on both the inevitability of this connection and its broader consequences. As students, it’s crucial to be media literate and mindful of where our information comes from. When you see a social media post or an article, fact check it. And remember, just because it has a lot of likes doesn’t mean it’s true — if that were the case, Kim Kardashian would’ve been our first female President by now.