Chartreuse green. Coconut trees. Venn diagrams. They’re motifs of a “brat” summer that has memed Kamala Harris into a narrow but perceptible lead against the master of social media — Donald Trump.
Now, as she prepares to be coronated as her party’s nominee in a presidential campaign dominated more by vibes than policy, Harris needs to keep the momentum going.So she is turning to about 200 social-media influencers, who for the first time ever have received privileges such as access to delegates and studio space at the Democratic National Convention.
It’s a reflection of the campaign’s belief that social media creators are at least as important as traditional media organizations for getting its message to voters. What’s more, some of them — not bound by journalistic doctrine against the appearance of bias — will even make speeches at the DNC in Chicago to rally support for Harris.
Monday night will feature Deja Foxx, a Columbia University graduate whose website describes her as an activist “leading thought at the intersection of social justice and social media.” She is focused on reproductive rights, an issue that has given Democrats ammunition against the Republicans after a conservative majority in the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s federal abortion protections.
“I will be the first creator to speak at the DNC tonight,” Foxx, who has almost 140,000 followers on TikTok and about 52,000 followers on Instagram, said in a video posted on Monday. “This is a dream, realized.” On Sunday, after arriving in Chicago for the convention, she posted two “outfit check” videos in which she sported a Stella McCartney dress that she said she’d bought secondhand and a “vintage 2020 primaries Kamala tee” featuring a childhood picture of Harris in pigtails.
Foxx, who worked on Harris’ failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, is now based in Arizona, where polls show a tight presidential race. Republicans are pushing border security where they sense Harris could be vulnerable, but face their own challenges on reproductive rights. An amendment to enshrine abortion protections in the state’s constitution will be on the ballot in November, which could fuel Democratic turnout.
Apart from Foxx, four other influencers — Olivia Julianna, Carlos Eduardo Espina, Nabela Noor and John Russell — will speak at the DNC this week, according to a person familiar with the matter. They’ll share the same stage reserved for Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, as well as the most powerful Democrats, including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar celebrated the Democratic party’s recent success on social media, particularly compared with former president Trump’s past dominance. “One of the frustrations for us and our party is that these guys just captured the Internet,” she told a group of New York delegates at the DNC on Monday morning. “Not this time.”
Klobuchar highlighted the surfacing of controversial comments made by Trump running mate JD Vance disparaging “childless cat ladies,” sparking blowback not just from Democrats but also some Republicans.
“When we found that video on cat ladies, the cat ladies of the country united,” she said. “When they go after Kamala for coconut trees, there’s coconut memes, there’s brat summer, there’s her laugh set to Zoom music. We have taken this back.”
Though Vance clarified that he was criticizing the Democratic Party for “becoming anti-family and anti-child,” rather than targeting people who couldn’t have kids, his original remarks have contributed to a view that the GOP ticket is adversarial to women. The influencer Noor, set to speak on Tuesday at the DNC and whose social media feeds feature everything from recipes to makeup tips and travelogues, has spoken passionately on her YouTube channel, where she has over 1 million followers, about the challenges she and her husband faced in conceiving a child.
While that’s likely to resonate with Democratic diehards at the DNC, a pinned video on her TikTok account also provides a window into a challenge the Democrats are contending with among the Gen Z crowd. Noor speaks about why she deleted an earlier post expressing “compassion for the innocent civilians” affected by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, a militant group designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.
“I just assumed that all of my followers knew of my past posts and support for the Palestinian cause in the past year,” she said in the video, while simultaneously applying makeup. “If I could do one thing differently, it would be to be even clearer about my support for the Palestinian movement for peace and freedom while still sharing my sympathy of course for Israeli civilians.”
The elevation of influencers like Noor is the party’s attempt to capture the attention of young voters, a core component of the Democratic base that was unenthusiastic about Biden’s bid for reelection. Since his exit from the race, they’ve warmed to Harris, but some of them are still skeptical of the vice president’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Noor’s video clarifying her views on the conflict shows how the turmoil in Gaza continues to be the biggest and most divisive issue driving many young Democrats to turn on the party. Harris has adopted a more sympathetic tone than Biden toward the plight of Palestinians, but her refusal to disavow Israel — which has been bombarding Gaza as part of its stated goal of eliminating Hamas — has angered the activists.
Chicago has been bracing for protests over the conflict after pro-Palestinian groups planned mass demonstrations urging followers to “Shut Down the DNC for Gaza!”. Through Monday afternoon, thousands of demonstrators have marched the city’s streets.
Harris has also faced off against protesters during her campaign. “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” a group of them yelled at a rally in Detroit earlier this month. The visibly annoyed vice president responded: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
Among the other influencers scheduled to speak at the convention, Espina is the most popular on TikTok, with over 10 million followers on the platform. His focus is immigration, among the top concerns for voters in this election cycle and a cudgel that Trump and the GOP frequently pick up to attack Democrats.
It’s a vulnerability for Harris in particular. Republicans have seized on the vice president’s portfolio that included addressing the root causes of migration.
Espina, 25, makes videos targeted toward uplifting the immigrant community. Earlier in the summer, he filmed a video with Biden after the president announced a policy that looks to expand options for certain undocumented individuals and some spouses of US citizens. In a more recent video, he filmed himself in Chicago, saying he was “in the middle of the action” to keep his audience informed.
“There should be no wrong door for engaging with voters,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at an event on Monday. “We’re speaking to them about the issues that matter most, and I’ve been really impressed, starting with brat summer to the work that’s going on now online. It’s been very, very impressive. I’m someone who really enjoys communicating with my fellow Pennsylvanians on Tiktok, Instagram, wherever. It is really important to meet people where they are.”
Now, as she prepares to be coronated as her party’s nominee in a presidential campaign dominated more by vibes than policy, Harris needs to keep the momentum going.So she is turning to about 200 social-media influencers, who for the first time ever have received privileges such as access to delegates and studio space at the Democratic National Convention.
It’s a reflection of the campaign’s belief that social media creators are at least as important as traditional media organizations for getting its message to voters. What’s more, some of them — not bound by journalistic doctrine against the appearance of bias — will even make speeches at the DNC in Chicago to rally support for Harris.
Monday night will feature Deja Foxx, a Columbia University graduate whose website describes her as an activist “leading thought at the intersection of social justice and social media.” She is focused on reproductive rights, an issue that has given Democrats ammunition against the Republicans after a conservative majority in the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s federal abortion protections.
“I will be the first creator to speak at the DNC tonight,” Foxx, who has almost 140,000 followers on TikTok and about 52,000 followers on Instagram, said in a video posted on Monday. “This is a dream, realized.” On Sunday, after arriving in Chicago for the convention, she posted two “outfit check” videos in which she sported a Stella McCartney dress that she said she’d bought secondhand and a “vintage 2020 primaries Kamala tee” featuring a childhood picture of Harris in pigtails.
Foxx, who worked on Harris’ failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, is now based in Arizona, where polls show a tight presidential race. Republicans are pushing border security where they sense Harris could be vulnerable, but face their own challenges on reproductive rights. An amendment to enshrine abortion protections in the state’s constitution will be on the ballot in November, which could fuel Democratic turnout.
Apart from Foxx, four other influencers — Olivia Julianna, Carlos Eduardo Espina, Nabela Noor and John Russell — will speak at the DNC this week, according to a person familiar with the matter. They’ll share the same stage reserved for Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, as well as the most powerful Democrats, including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar celebrated the Democratic party’s recent success on social media, particularly compared with former president Trump’s past dominance. “One of the frustrations for us and our party is that these guys just captured the Internet,” she told a group of New York delegates at the DNC on Monday morning. “Not this time.”
Klobuchar highlighted the surfacing of controversial comments made by Trump running mate JD Vance disparaging “childless cat ladies,” sparking blowback not just from Democrats but also some Republicans.
“When we found that video on cat ladies, the cat ladies of the country united,” she said. “When they go after Kamala for coconut trees, there’s coconut memes, there’s brat summer, there’s her laugh set to Zoom music. We have taken this back.”
Though Vance clarified that he was criticizing the Democratic Party for “becoming anti-family and anti-child,” rather than targeting people who couldn’t have kids, his original remarks have contributed to a view that the GOP ticket is adversarial to women. The influencer Noor, set to speak on Tuesday at the DNC and whose social media feeds feature everything from recipes to makeup tips and travelogues, has spoken passionately on her YouTube channel, where she has over 1 million followers, about the challenges she and her husband faced in conceiving a child.
While that’s likely to resonate with Democratic diehards at the DNC, a pinned video on her TikTok account also provides a window into a challenge the Democrats are contending with among the Gen Z crowd. Noor speaks about why she deleted an earlier post expressing “compassion for the innocent civilians” affected by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, a militant group designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.
“I just assumed that all of my followers knew of my past posts and support for the Palestinian cause in the past year,” she said in the video, while simultaneously applying makeup. “If I could do one thing differently, it would be to be even clearer about my support for the Palestinian movement for peace and freedom while still sharing my sympathy of course for Israeli civilians.”
The elevation of influencers like Noor is the party’s attempt to capture the attention of young voters, a core component of the Democratic base that was unenthusiastic about Biden’s bid for reelection. Since his exit from the race, they’ve warmed to Harris, but some of them are still skeptical of the vice president’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Noor’s video clarifying her views on the conflict shows how the turmoil in Gaza continues to be the biggest and most divisive issue driving many young Democrats to turn on the party. Harris has adopted a more sympathetic tone than Biden toward the plight of Palestinians, but her refusal to disavow Israel — which has been bombarding Gaza as part of its stated goal of eliminating Hamas — has angered the activists.
Chicago has been bracing for protests over the conflict after pro-Palestinian groups planned mass demonstrations urging followers to “Shut Down the DNC for Gaza!”. Through Monday afternoon, thousands of demonstrators have marched the city’s streets.
Harris has also faced off against protesters during her campaign. “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” a group of them yelled at a rally in Detroit earlier this month. The visibly annoyed vice president responded: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
Among the other influencers scheduled to speak at the convention, Espina is the most popular on TikTok, with over 10 million followers on the platform. His focus is immigration, among the top concerns for voters in this election cycle and a cudgel that Trump and the GOP frequently pick up to attack Democrats.
It’s a vulnerability for Harris in particular. Republicans have seized on the vice president’s portfolio that included addressing the root causes of migration.
Espina, 25, makes videos targeted toward uplifting the immigrant community. Earlier in the summer, he filmed a video with Biden after the president announced a policy that looks to expand options for certain undocumented individuals and some spouses of US citizens. In a more recent video, he filmed himself in Chicago, saying he was “in the middle of the action” to keep his audience informed.
“There should be no wrong door for engaging with voters,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at an event on Monday. “We’re speaking to them about the issues that matter most, and I’ve been really impressed, starting with brat summer to the work that’s going on now online. It’s been very, very impressive. I’m someone who really enjoys communicating with my fellow Pennsylvanians on Tiktok, Instagram, wherever. It is really important to meet people where they are.”
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