Kamala Harris is hoping for a boost for her presidential bid after being caught up in a British pop star’s social media trend.
The US vice president has embraced the “brat summer” trend, which was pioneered by Charli XCX.
The term refers to the 31-year-old singer’s album Brat, released last month, which was nominated for a Mercury Prize yesterday.
Following news that Joe Biden had dropped out of the presidential race this week, Charli XCX wrote on social media: “Kamala IS a brat.”
The post sparked a wave of “memes” on the Internet, which Harris’ campaign is now using to win over young voters.
British singer Charli (left), 31, posted a tweet calling the vice president (right) a “brat” after Joe Biden endorsed her as the Democratic presidential candidate and dropped out of the race.
Charli XCX, 31, told X on Sunday, “Kamala IS a brat,” an endorsement that references the name of her album released earlier this year.
The header of her official campaign account was inspired by the Brat album cover, using the same font and shade of green.
Supporters of the Democrat have also edited her speeches with songs from the album. One viral post remixed the song Von Dutch with a speech Harris gave last year.
In it, he recounted his mother telling him: “Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of everything you live in and everything that came before you.”
Abigail De Kosnik, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told NBC News that Harris was “connected” to popular culture in a way that previous Democratic candidates had not been.
Describing why the vice president is embracing the “brat summer” trend, she added: “The brat girl is kind of like the unexpected leader, the unexpected winner.”
Ms Harris has also been endorsed by musicians including Beyoncé and Cardi B, while American singer Kesha mixed a video of her “laughing” to her 2011 song Blow.
Yesterday Charli XCX said seeing Brat “take on a life of its own” had been “wild” as she was nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Brat, which is her sixth studio album, is one of 12 shortlisted albums.
Praising the second time she has been nominated for the award, Charli XCX posted: ‘Brat has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and I really feel so honoured (sic).
“It’s so nice to see this work get so much love. It really means a lot to me and seeing it take on a life of its own has been pretty wild and fucking crazy.”
‘Brat’ is Charli XCX’s sixth album (pictured)
Kamala Harris has embraced the ‘brat summer’ trend after Charli XCX’s viral tweet
Charli, 31, tweeted “Kamala IS Brat,” in reference to her new album Brat (album cover shown left). Harris’ campaign quickly adopted the album’s lime green aesthetic for its Kamala HQ X account (right).
Corinne Bailey Rae has also been nominated, as has Beth Gibbons for her debut solo studio album Lives Outgrown.
Rock band The Last Dinner Party has also been recognized for their debut album.
The winner, who will be announced in September, will receive a prize of £25,000. However, there will be no live awards ceremony this year, just “extensive promotional activity”.
