When President Biden endorsed Kamala Harris as his replacement for the 2024 Democratic nominee, meme creators reacted almost faster than Americans could learn the news.
Within minutes, social media platforms were flooded with mentions of coconut trees and declarations of “mother.” But the jokes certainly weren’t new. Weeks before Biden dropped out of the presidential race, in the aftermath of his highly criticized debate performance, the internet seemed to anticipate what Washington did not: that Harris would be in the running to be the Democratic nominee.
Content creators gave Harris the meme treatment by making “fancam” edits of her speeches and turning awkward public moments into searchable reaction clips. It was an organic reaction to the news, unlike some other attempts by the Biden campaign and others to go viral, which have been largely considered “cringe” and a turnoff for young voters.
The video that “coconut-pilled” the internet was a speech Harris gave in May …