Charli XCX called Kamala Harris ‘brat.’ Here’s why that’s a strong endorsement for the candidate whose meme stock is bullish

CNN

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — While the Swifties and Bey Hive dream of a world where Taylor Swift and Beyoncé come together to jointly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, one singer is already getting the party started.

British pop singer Charli XCX has entered the virtual chat, posting “kamala IS brat” on X on Sunday.

If you don’t understand what that means, you are both not alone and in a safe space. Welcome to “Bratology 101.”

What is a ‘brat?’

“Brat” is less a noun than it is a concept, though it is also a thing.

The title of Charli XCX’s sixth studio album, she envisions a “brat” as someone who has a “pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra.”

“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times,” she explained in a video shared on TikTok.

“Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”

Many theorize that it is the antithesis to the “clean” and “highly groomed” aspect so often on display by social media influencers.

There is even a “brat” color, a very specific shade of chartreuse, which the internet has all but declared as the color of the summer.

The singer made it her album color and has explained that it’s “kind of the idea of making something like quite disgusting and turning it into this thing you know people are going to look at quite a lot and think about and ask, you know, why that green?”

Team Harris’ response

Harris’ camp responded in a way that signaled to the internet they understood the compliment and are embracing it.

Those visiting the official Kamala HQ account on X, which links to her official site, are met with a background photo in the “brat” green color and the vice president’s name in the same font as sported on Charli XCX’s album.

Gen Z voters

If Harris secures the Democratic nomination, she’ll be working for every vote in the race against former President Donald Trump. Younger voters could prove essential to the outcome of the 2024 election.

David Hogg, a 24-year-old activist and co-founder of the March for Our Lives movement formed after a mass shooting while he was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, shared Charli XCX’s post on Sunday.

“The amount this single tweet may have just done for the youth vote is not insignificant,” Hogg wrote.

Gen Z not only grew up on the internet, but they have also shown they know how to use social media to organize to push for change.

Soon after President Biden endorsed Harris, the internet was flooded with meme photos and videos of everything from Harris dancing to coconut trees.

That latter came to be thanks to remarks Harris gave in May 2023 during a swearing-in ceremony of commissioners at an initiative focused on expanding educational opportunities for the Hispanic community.

Harris spoke about “a difference between equality and equity” and personalized it with a family story.

“None of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context,” she said. “My mother used to – she would give us a hard time sometimes – and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. 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.’”

The internet responded with coconut memes that again gained traction on Sunday as a way to show support. The Harris campaign returned the sentiment with a line on the Harris HQ X account that reads: “Providing context.”

Some have complained that even if the coconut memes are well meaning, they might also be perceived as racist.

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