Viral Trends on Social Media: the Trump and Harris Campaigns
By: Elizabeth Chen
Sunday, July 21st: Joe Biden drops out of the presidential race, four months before the 2024 election, following a disastrous presidential debate between Joe Biden, the current President of the United States, and Donald Trump, Former President of the United States. The viral debate ranged in topics from who had the best golf skills to relations with a porn star, leading to Biden’s chances decreasing in the polls. Many citizens took to social media to share their discontent with the candidates and the extreme polarization of our nation, along with the lack of diplomacy the two candidates had during the debate.
However, with the resignation of Biden came the rise of Kamala Harris, the first woman Vice President of the United States. The coming of Harris to the stand resulted in memes all over the internet of a “coconut tree” and “brat,” leading to much confusion among non-GenZ as to what these viral internet trends mean.
In June of 2024, Charli XCX, an American artist, released her album “Brat,” which went viral on TikTok due to the “apple dance” to her song “Apple.” The album sparked a trend called “Brat summer,” which the singer describes as “being confident, putting yourself out there, being out, being about, being the center of attention.” In a few weeks, the meaning of the word “brat” has been redefined from a name with extremely negative connotations to a positive word describing the ideal of teenage girls.
Following Biden’s announcement which endorsed Kamala Harris as the new Democratic candidate, Charli XCX posts on X, formerly Twitter, “Kamala IS brat.” The artist’s claim blew up on many social media platforms, and hence the “Brat” edits began swarming the internet. Harris’ social media team picked up on the viral meme. It incorporated “Brat” into the campaign, with the Kamala HQ account on TikTok creating countless content and merchandise with neon green to show support for the “Brat” campaign.
On the Republican side, before Biden had announced dropping of the presidential race, an attempted assassination led to an ear injury for Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13th. His first public appearance since was during the RNC. However, Trump was not the only one with a bandage over his ear.
The newest trend for the Republicans appeared to be ear bandages, ranging from actual bandages to cotton pads to tape to paper. Attendees mimicked the looks after seeing others doing the same to stand in solidarity with Trump. Viral memes blew up all over social media, claiming that Trump’s survival was attributed to “divine intervention.” Pictures of a raised fist as Donald Trump was taken down by the Secret Service also went viral on social media as a symbol of continued fighting along with calls to end political violence.
Yet the similarities between the two campaigns, both using social media trends, only demonstrate the divided future of the United States. Although future elections will only evolve with the different campaign strategies utilizing trends on large social media platforms, along with symbolic demonstrations and celebrity endorsements, the polarization of the nation is only increasing, not only separating beliefs but also starting to incorporate large racial preferences. The future of the United States appears to be slowly going backward instead of following the goal of being a diverse mixing pot where new futures are created.
Sources:
https://time.com/7000028/ear-bandage-fashion-trend-republicans-convention-rnc-trump-shooting/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/politics/takeaways-biden-trump-debate/index.html