Kamala Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021, under President Joe Biden. Harris has been described as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential election. She previously served as a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021 and the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017.
Office
editHarris' term in office has seen high staff turnovers that included the departures of her chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, press secretary, deputy press secretary, communications director, and chief speechwriter.[1] Critics allege that the high rate of resignations reflects "dysfunction" and demoralization caused by Harris' "abrasive management style" and was characteristic of her tenure as California attorney general;[2] citing unnamed individuals "close to the vice president's operation", Axios reported that at least some of the turnover was due to exhaustion from a demanding transition into the new administration, as well as financial and personal considerations.[3]
Supporters
edit#KHive is the hashtag used by an informal online community supporting Kamala Harris, the 49th Vice President of the United States. The hashtag is also a term that is always pronounced and occasionally transcribed as K-Hive, and refers to the wider online community that is not formally affiliated with her campaign or office. The community formed prior to and during her 2020 presidential campaign as an effort to defend Harris from perceived misinformation and attacks perceived as racist and sexist. The movement has been cited as an example of social media fandom or stan culture.[4][5]
Memes
editIn 2024, a video clip from 2023 went viral of Harris saying "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" while swearing in the President's Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.[6] The full context of the quote refers to a personal anecdote that was told near the end of the speech, which concerned the importance of addressing the needs of parents, grandparents, and communities as part of educational equity.[7][8] Harris' shift in tone from light to serious, and the unusualness of the quote out of context, garnered a variety of reactions, and has since been used both derisively and as a show of support.[9] The remark subsequently became an internet meme with people using coconut and tree emojis (🌴🥥) in reference to the speech.[10][11]
"What can be, unburdened by what has been" is a quote popularized and primarily used by Harris.[12] A supercut of Harris repeating the quote was first shared by the Republican National Committee on social media platform X, on April 30, 2023, after which it became viral.[13] In 2020, Harris posted on X (formerly Twitter): "When young children see someone who looks like them running for office, they see themselves and what they can be, unburdened by what has been."[14] Harris continues to use this phrase as part of her stump speech. The quote has been oft-cited as a meme also attributable to the KHive, Harris's Internet following, and used as a pejorative and subject of mockery by her opponents.[15]
"We did it, Joe!" is a viral video in which Kamala Harris calls Joe Biden to congratulate him on winning the 2020 United States presidential election.[16] The quote "We did it, Joe!" became a meme, and Harris's tweet publishing the video became one of the most-ever liked posts on Twitter (now X).[17][18][19] By the afternoon of November 7, the video had been liked on X, then Twitter, more than 800,000 times.[20] It would later amass 2.9 million likes, making it the 16th-most liked post on X ever as of July 2024.
Approval rating
editDuring her tenure, Harris has had one of the lowest approval ratings of any vice president.[21][22][23] According to a RealClear Politics polling average, as of April 2024, 39% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of Harris and 55% had an unfavorable opinion.[24][25]
References
edit- ^ Cadelago, Christopher; Lippman, Daniel; Daniels, Eugene (December 4, 2021). "'Not a healthy environment': Kamala Harris' office rife with dissent". Politico. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ Tomlinson, Hugh (March 17, 2022). "Fresh woe for Kamala Harris as another adviser quits". The Times. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ Alexi McCammond and Sarah Mucha, "Burnout, money, fear drive turnover in Harris's office Archived February 21, 2024, at the Wayback Machine" Axios (Dec. 3, 2021).
- ^ Zhou, Li (July 25, 2019). "The #KHive, Kamala Harris's most devoted online supporters, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ^ Bixby, Scott (August 12, 2020). "Kamala Harris Built a 'Digital Army'—Now She Gets to Use It". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ^ DeLetter, Emily. "'You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?' Kamala Harris meme resurfaces after Biden drops out". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
- ^ "Remarks by Vice President Harris at Swearing-In Ceremony of Commissioners for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics". The White House. May 10, 2023. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ Murray, Conor. "Kamala Harris' 'Coconut Tree' Quote, Explained: What She Meant And Why It's Going Viral As Biden Drops Out". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
- ^ Paz, Christian (July 3, 2024). "Why is everyone talking about Kamala Harris and coconut trees?". Vox. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
- ^ Schapitl, Lexie; Treisman, Rachel (July 22, 2024). "The Kamala Harris coconut tree meme, explained as best we can". Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ Touma, Rafqa; Cassidy, Caitlin; Cassidy, Rafqa Touma explains it to Caitlin (22 July 2024). "What is the Kamala Harris coconut tree meme and why is everyone sharing it?". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Kamala Harris, unburdened by what has been, now free to run for president". The Independent. 2024-07-22. Archived from the original on 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
- ^ Amanda Hess (July 23, 2024). "The Triumphant Comeback of the Kamala Harris Meme". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ Singh, Rishika (2024-07-07). "Coconuts for Kamala Harris: Why the Internet is memeing the US VP amid speculations of her candidacy". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ^ Weiss, Aditi Bharade, Amanda Goh, Joshua Nelken-Zitser, Geoff. "Kamala Harris' media strategy right out the gate is young, fun, and unburdened by what has been". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Harris, Kamala [@KamalaHarris] (November 7, 2020). "We did it, @JoeBiden" (Tweet). Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Montgomery, Blake (2024-07-05). "#KHive: Kamala Harris memes abound after Joe Biden's debate disaster". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
- ^ Clemens, Danny (2020-12-07). "Remembering Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant: Tweets honoring icons lost are year's most-liked on Twitter". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
- ^ Pugh, Jamia (2022-07-22). "Kamala Harris jokingly recalls how the viral "We did it Joe" meme came to be". ABC Audio. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
- ^ Morin, Rebecca. "'We did it': Video shows Kamala Harris calling Joe Biden after presidential win". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
- ^ Fossett, Katelyn. "What's going on with Kamala's poll numbers?". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ Ting, Eric (November 8, 2021). "Kamala Harris has a comically bad approval rating, poll finds". SFGate. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ Oshin, Olafimihan (June 26, 2023). "Poll: Kamala Harris sets record low for Vice President net favorability". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ^ "Kamala Harris Favorable/Unfavorable Ratings Polls". RealClearPolling. Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ Stiles, Matt; Murphy, Ryan; Martínez, Vanessa (April 23, 2024). "What does America think of Kamala Harris? Follow the latest polls". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 23, 2024.