You think you just fell out of a coconut tree.
Coconuts are popping up all over the Internet and making
a splash right now in American politics.
But if you're not steeped in online culture, you might
be wondering, like, wait, what do coconuts have to do
with Kamala?
Let's go back and look at where these memes came
from and how in the last few days, they've gone
from viral jokes to a Harris campaign trademark.
She's been racking up millions and millions of views on
TikTok.
She's just completely taken over the Internet.
You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?
We have to go back more than a year to
a speech at a White House event for Hispanic American
opportunities.
Harris was talking about how young people are influenced by
the communities they're raised in and brought up something her
mother used to say 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.
That clip was turned into a meme that started surfacing
a few months ago, and it's been remixed countless times
since.
You think you just fell out of a coconut tree.
You exist in the context.
There's something about her delivery that is like, really, really
memorable.
And the Internet loves nothing more than like, memorability.
There's a lot of things about Kamala that just make
her very memeable.
She's funny, she's goofy, she says a lot of kind
of nonsensical things.
I really do.
I love Venn diagrams.
It's just something about those three circles.
And and this kind of thing isn't exactly new for
Kamala Harris.
She's been meme material for years.
We did it.
We did it, Joe.
What can be and be unburdened by what has been?
You know, what can be unburdened by what has been?
What can be unburdened by what has been.
I actually spoke to her head of influencer marketing back
in 2019, who talked about her ability to generate these
sound bites.
And they were trying to see the lot of these
really ridiculous little phrases and moments on TikTok as far
back as 2019.
And when this happened.
President Biden drops out of the 2024 race for president
and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris.
That meme resurfaced in a big way.
And coconuts became a symbol of support.
Harris's campaign team jumped on board, nodding to the meme
wherever possible.
The thing that the Commonwealth Harris campaign has done so
cleverly is understood.
Memes are inherently a really effective way to deliver a
message.
In the last few days, the search popularity of coconut
tree has skyrocketed.
Now that it's become this organic popular thing online among
young progressives, you see the mainstream establishment trying to Co
opt it and leverage it.
Because here's the thing, the Biden administration has been struggling
to hang on to young people support.
Young progressives have been critical of how the economy, climate
change and the Israel Hamas war have been handled.
And if Kamala Harris ends up being the nominee, this
is a segment of the vote she'll need.
It's crucial.
I mean, This is why Biden was in such dire
straits.
He had alienated a huge swath of young progressives, and
these young progressives are some of the most vocal Internet
users, those younger people who might not have necessarily turned
out for Joe Biden, They have maybe a slightly different
relationship with her.
At least they know her from seeing all these themes
constantly.
And so it can become a door opener.