to challenge Republican hopeful Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
Vice-president Harris has garnered mixed reactions since being elected in 2020.
She was plagued by staff turnover at the beginning of her tenure and was criticised for what some saw as little progress on her portfolios of protecting voting rights and stemming migration from Central America.
Meanwhile, many on the internet focused on her quirky quotes, dance clips, awkward laughter and puzzling anecdotes.
Seeking to counter this, Harris’s campaign team and supporters have flooded the internet with memes that are probably confusing to those unfamiliar with their references.
Elsewhere, her proponents argue she could energise young voters, consolidate Black support, and bring sharp debating skills to prosecute the political case against the former president.
So, what do the brat and coconut tree memes mean? And beyond the memes, what does stand for? And what lies ahead for her over the coming weeks?
Here are six things to know about Kamala Harris.
1. The apple doesn’t fall far from the (coconut) tree
Following President in June, Harris’s online fan community, the K-Hive, created ‘fancam’ edits of her speeches and dancing on TikTok, with palm tree emojis flooding social media.
The emojis reference something Harris once quoted her mother as saying when the vice-president was making a speech about education.
“She would sometimes 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’,” Harris said during that speech.
Bars in the US capital Washington, DC quickly jumped on the trend, offering coconut-themed drinks and reviving piña coladas.
When Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, the coconut craze went into high gear.
“Madam Vice-President, we are ready to help,” posted Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz along with a photo of a man climbing a coconut palm.
“You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?” posted Illinois governor JB Pritzker when ruling himself out as a competitor and endorsing Harris.
2. ‘Kamala IS brat’?
While the now 81-year-old Biden has long struggled to win over younger voters, there’s hope that Harris, 59, might have better luck.
Their initial attempt seems promising.
The Harris campaign’s account rebranded on X with a lime green logo inspired by Charli XCX’s album cover for Brat, the Gen Z soundtrack of the northern hemisphere summer this year.
The word “Brat” was replaced with “kamala hq.”
Charli XCX describes “brat” as “that girl who is a little messy, likes to party, and maybe says some dumb things sometimes.”
Shortly after Biden’s announcement, the pop star appeared to endorse Harris, stating “kamala IS brat”.
An edit of Harris’s coconut tree speech set to a track from Brat has been viewed millions of times, proving to be excellent marketing for the Harris campaign.
As 27-year-old Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost put it: “Brat vote secured.”
3. Her fight for abortion access will both win and lose her votes
Harris, a former prosecutor known for her tough stance on fraud and rape cases, pledged on Monday to make the fight for abortion rights a key focus of her presidential campaign.
“We will fight for reproductive freedom, knowing that if Trump gets the chance, he will sign an abortion ban to outlaw it in every single state,” she declared in her first campaign speech.
Democrats hope Harris can attract suburban women and working mothers with her advocacy for women’s rights.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, , more people might be driven to support a female president.
Conversely, Harris making the issue a central point of her campaign could drive some anti-abortion voters to support Trump.
4. She is openly empathetic towards the Palestinian cause
While Harris is expected to mostly follow Biden’s foreign policy on key issues like Ukraine and China, she may adopt a tougher stance on Israel — especially regarding — having shown more empathy towards Palestinians than Biden.
In March, “People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act,” she declared.
“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire,” pausing for applause before adding: “for six weeks.”
US vice-president Kamala Harris makes a speech at a campaign event in North Carolina on 18 July. Source: Getty / Anadolu
She criticised Israel for not doing enough to alleviate the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and said she wouldn’t rule out “consequences” if Israel launched a full-scale invasion of refugee-packed Rafah in southern Gaza.
Harris faces the complex challenge of appealing to voters in swing states like Michigan, with its large Arab American population, as well as powerful pro-Israel voters and lobby groups.
This tension will likely be on display when she meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington this week.
5. Immigration will be a thorn in her side
The has been sharply criticised by Republicans, who blame Biden.
This challenging campaign issue also affects Harris, who as vice-president was tasked with addressing the root causes of irregular migration.
Republicans will now try to pin the problem on her.
Harris, who is herself a daughter of immigrants, has faced criticism from both Republicans and migrant advocates when it comes to immigration.
While a senator, she supported expanding work and legal pathways for those brought to the US unlawfully as children. However, during a 2021 visit to Guatemala, she warned potential migrants: “Do not come.”
6. She’s entering a lion’s den of sexism and racism
Since her endorsement, the internet has seen a surge in misogynistic and sexist narratives about Harris.
And in the weeks ahead, as Trump and his supporters reposition their campaign, Harris and her campaign will be preparing for doctored images, sexual slurs, racial innuendos, false narratives and a flood of gendered disinformation.
Some social media posts claim Harris “slept her way to the top”, referencing her 1990s relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. Meanwhile, manipulated images of Harris with Jeffrey Epstein have circulated on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Other posts wrongly attribute Harris’s success solely to her ethnicity, suggesting she exaggerates her racial identity for political gain.
Following Joe Biden’s exit from the US presidential election, Donald Trump’s campaign will now be repositioning itself towards discrediting Democratic hopeful Kamala Harris. Source: AAP / Julia Nikhinson/AP
AI tools are also expected to exacerbate disinformation on social sites like X, now owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk.
In 200 years of US democracy, only one Black president has been elected, and never a woman.
According to a report from the Center for Democracy and Technology, women of colour in the 2020 elections were twice as likely as others to face disinformation and four times as likely as white candidates to encounter violent abuse.
