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Kamala Harris
Personal
27th District Attorney of San Francisco
32nd Attorney General of California
U.S. Senator from California
49th Vice President of the United States
Incumbent
Vice presidential campaigns
Presidential campaigns
Kamala Harris's signature

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 was also the 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

Harris's term as vice president 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's "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

Main article: KHive

#KHive is the hashtag used by an informal online community supporting Harris. 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

See also: Brat (album) § In political campaigning
Harris remarks "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" at a May 2023 White House swearing-in ceremony.

In 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's 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 another 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 Twitter, on April 30, 2023, after which it became viral.[quantify][13] In 2020, Harris posted on 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] The quote is often used in a tongue-in-cheek manner[16] by journalists reporting on Harris' image, personality, and style. At times, Kamala Harris has been described as having a "self-help" speaking style similar to that of Oprah Winfrey.[17] Although it's been suggested[18] that the ambiguous quote is borrowed from Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now, the word "unburdened" appears nowhere in the book.

"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.[19] 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.[20][21][22] By the afternoon of November 7, the video had been liked on Twitter more than 800,000 times.[23] It would later amass 2.9 million likes, making it the 16th-most liked tweet ever as of July 2024.

Harris has also been the subject of comedic impressions, including by comedian Allison Reese, whose Harris-inspired content on TikTok has amassed millions of views.[24]

Approval rating

During her tenure, Harris has had one of the lowest approval ratings of any vice president. In November 2021, USA Today and Suffolk University reported an approval rating of 28%.[25][26][27] After Biden withdrew from the 2024 Democratic primary and endorsed Harris, her approval ratings experienced a sharp rise as her presidential campaign began.[28] According to a RealClear Politics polling average, as of September 2024, 47.1% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of Harris and 48.8% had an unfavorable opinion.[29]

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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).
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Schapitl, Lexie; Treisman, Rachel (July 22, 2024). "The Kamala Harris coconut tree meme, explained as best we can". Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  11. ^ Touma, Rafqa; Cassidy, Caitlin; Cassidy, Rafqa Touma explains it to Caitlin (July 22, 2024). "What is the Kamala Harris coconut tree meme and why is everyone sharing it?". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  12. ^ "Kamala Harris, unburdened by what has been, now free to run for president". The Independent. July 22, 2024. Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Singh, Rishika (July 7, 2024). "Coconuts for Kamala Harris: Why the Internet is memeing the US VP amid speculations of her candidacy". The Indian Express. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  15. ^ 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 July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Browning, Kellen; Levien, Simon J. (July 3, 2024). "Here Comes the 'KHive': Buzz for Kamala Harris Grows After Biden's Debate Stumble". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  17. ^ Winter, Jessica (July 5, 2024). "The Kamala Harris Social-Media Blitz Did Not Just Fall Out of a Coconut Tree". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  18. ^ Demopoulos, Alaina (July 25, 2024). "'So uniquely her': where did Kamala Harris's self-help speaking style come from?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. ^ Harris, Kamala [@KamalaHarris] (November 7, 2020). "We did it, @JoeBiden" (Tweet). Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Montgomery, Blake (July 5, 2024). "#KHive: Kamala Harris memes abound after Joe Biden's debate disaster". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  21. ^ Clemens, Danny (December 7, 2020). "Remembering Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant: Tweets honoring icons lost are year's most-liked on Twitter". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  22. ^ Pugh, Jamia (July 22, 2022). "Kamala Harris jokingly recalls how the viral "We did it Joe" meme came to be". ABC Audio. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  23. ^ Morin, Rebecca. "'We did it': Video shows Kamala Harris calling Joe Biden after presidential win". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Burnett, Erin (August 3, 2024). "Meet comedian who went viral for her impression of Kamala Harris". Erin Burnett OutFront (Television production). CNN. 0:22. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  25. ^ Fossett, Katelyn. "What's going on with Kamala's poll numbers?". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  26. ^ 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.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ Brenan, Megan (August 22, 2024). "Democrats Give Harris Nearly Unanimous Positive Ratings". Gallup.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  29. ^ "Kamala Harris Favorable/Unfavorable Ratings Polls". RealClearPolling. Archived from the original on August 6, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
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