What does 'brat' mean, why are people calling VP Kamala Harris one?

NEW YORK - If you're wondering why the internet is calling Vice President Kamala Harris a "brat," or where the coconut tree memes come from, let us help.

Many young creators, including Gen Z and Gen Alpha, say the memes could be her ticket to the presidency. 

In just a few days, VP Harris has garnered widespread attention, donations and endorsements for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

Harris now has enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey.

On Tuesday, both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pledged their support for Harris. 

But there's one endorsement that seems to be getting everyone's attention. 

British pop star Charlie XCX said that "kamala is brat," a reference to her new album "brat," which started the trend "brat summer."

Following the mention, Harris’ campaign quickly changed its X banner to a photo that reads "kamala hq," with the same Shrek-green color background. 

The endorsement has accumulated over 35 million impressions.

Viral mashups using the term and playing Charli’s music have spread widely as well on Instagram, X, and TikTok.

There are even green "brat" T-shirts popping up on X posts from Fire Island, New York.

Younger celebs and content creators are aiming to help Harris by tying her to their viral and loyal social media brands.

The unpredictable collab seems to be working as one July AP-NORC poll shows Younger adults — those between the ages of 18 and 29 — had a slightly more favorable view of Harris than Biden.

The poll was conducted after the debate but before Biden announced he was withdrawing as the Democratic nominee.

Elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris in the day after Biden’s exit from the race and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.

From "brat summer" to "coconut tree," it’s been a timeline full of Harris-related memes for many people since President Joe Biden exited the 2024 presidential race on Sunday and endorsed his No. 2 to lead the party.

Taking to the internet to pledge their support for her candidacy, Harris’ backers, much of the time, are crafting new spins on previous online organisms that at one time had been used by Harris’ detractors to throw shade.

What does ‘brat’ mean?

Charlotte Emma Aitchison, most famously known as Charlie XCX, is a British-born singer and songwriter. 

The pop sensation is most known for the songs "Speed Drive" on the Barbie Album, "Boys" and "I Love It."

She's also written Iggy Azalea's "Beg for It" (2014), Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love" (2015),  and "Señorita" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. 

Her sixth studio album "brat", released on June 7, quickly went viral for its catchyness, coining the phrase "brat summer." 

The "brat summer" movement pretty much rejects the norm and embraces the unapologetic. 

Think edgy, imperfect, and confident, as opposed to polished, poised, and politically correct. 

Kamala coconut trees

VP Harris has also been going viral for coconuts as creators make mashups playing Charli’s music over clips of Harris dancing and laughing. 

The trend is in reference to a 2023 speech where Kamala talked about being aware and not living in a silo. 

In that speech, Harris shared words of wisdom from her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who she said used to say to her siblings, "I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?"

The meme resurfaced Sunday when President Biden announced that he would not seek re-election. 

Kamala Harris venn diagrams

It’s OK if you’re not a math scholar or gen Z— you'll get this one.

"I love Venn diagrams," Harris said during an event in 2022. "There’s just something about those three circles and the analysis of where there’s the intersection right?"

The Republican National Committee posted a clip of the comment on YouTube as a way to criticize Harris. But many of those commenting on the account’s posts expressed their own love for the set theory tool that shows overlapping areas of similarity.

Harris’ campaign has now seized on the moment, too, with her rapid response operation posting its own Venn diagram on X showing "holding Trump accountable" as the intersection of both the Biden and Harris operations.

Can Kamala Harris beat Trump?

While Harris might seem to be the obvious next choice for Democrats, Biden had been trailing behind Trump by around three points. According to AP, Harris would still be trailing, but by around two points.

Schatz, the Hawaii senator who posted an image of himself climbing a coconut tree, said that while Harris is not part of Gen Z, what Gen Z wants is not necessarily a candidate their same age, but someone who is "in the pop culture mainstream."

"We should be winning decisively among young people, and one of the impediments, frankly, was that they didn’t see anyone speaking for Democratic Party values who they found relatable," he told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. "Politics is definitely about policy, but it’s also about vibes, and the vibes, as the kids say, are immaculate."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.