Kamala IS brat

How Gen Z is affecting America's political landscape

Gen Z is notoriously known for being unserious. Those outside of this very niche bubble have concluded that Gen Z is uninterested in today’s politics. This has left the discourse among this younger generation to stay within itself.

This group has been counted out for quite a long time. And no one seemed to think this particular group could leave a mark on American politics up until this week…

On Sunday, July 21st President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, leaving the Democratic Party in a state of unrest. Biden’s decision to drop out of the race was met with immediate concern. Despite Vice President Kamala Harris’s announcement that she was joining the Presidential race, many people expressed a sense of hopelessness. While others expressed that no nominee could match the following that former President Donald Trump has. The next person to fall in line as the Democratic nominee is Vice President Kamala Harris. Though, Gen Z had a different approach and immediately joined the effort to help grow support for the new democratic candidate. The next twenty-four hours led to Gen Z doing what they do best: using social media.

It’s no secret that Gen Z is the future of American politics. The Harris’ campaign seemingly understood this and used this to their advantage. Embracing the various compilation videos and memes Kamala decided to cater to her younger audience. This led to the Harris team mimicking the “Kamala HQ” twitter account after Charli XCX’s trending album “BRAT”. The account’s Twitter banner is the same shade of chartreuse, green that Charli XCX used for her album. Many who are not up to date with the most recent Gen Z trends may not understand how this strategy is helpful. But those who understand the aesthetic success of a “brat summer” knows that this campaign strategy is a brilliant way to draw in unknowing Gen Z voters.

Even Charli XCX endorsed Kamala and her use of the “brat” aesthetic, tweeting that, “kamala IS brat”. This tweet only brought the Vice President’s campaign more attention, generating so much publicity that CNN broadcasters discussed its relevance on the campaign mart.

Following support from those like Charli XCX, other fanbases decided to take action such as the Bey Hive and Swifties. These fanbases created accounts on Instagram and Twitter to garner support and provide educational resources about Kamala’s campaign. It’s important to note that these groups took action without any endorsement from the actual figures themselves (Beyonce, Taylor Swift). For example, “Swifties for Harris” has a current following of thirty-seven thousand followers, this happening within a week.

Many from the millennial and boomer generations may see these videos, tweets, and memes as some silly marketing strategy. Though many should head caution. Putting politics aside, whether you lean left or right there is no denying that Gen Z’s secret weapon is social media. And a page should be taken out of the Harris teams’ playbook for their smart use of social media antics. If Kamala is decidedly voted the new POTUS this November, there is no doubt that it is in part due to Gen Z’s hand in promoting her name.