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We did it, Joe!

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"We did it, Joe!" is a viral video in which Kamala Harris, moments after learning she and Joe Biden had won the 2020 United States presidential election, calls Biden to congratulate him on their victory.[1] The quote "We did it, Joe!" became a meme, and Harris's tweet publishing the video became one of the most-liked posts ever on Twitter (now X).[2][3][4]

Background

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In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were, respectively, the Democratic Party's candidates for President and Vice-President, running against then incumbent President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

The 2020 presidential election was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which began notably affecting life in the United States in March 2020.[5] Biden's general election campaign limited its in-person events, and the candidate appeared frequently via live and pre-recorded videos from the basement of his Delaware home.[6]

The pandemic also caused an unprecedented spike in mail-in voting, which did not require voters to appear in person at polling stations.[7][8] While media organizations have been largely able to predict the results of U.S. presidential races on election night in recent decades, several battleground states remained too close to call on November 3, 2020.[9][10] In particular, a Pennsylvania law precluding the process for counting mail-in ballots until polls closed caused a marked delay in the state's tabulations.[11] On the morning of November 7, the Associated Press and other major media organizations determined that Biden's lead in Pennsylvania was sufficient to declare him the winner of the state and thus president-elect.[12][13]

Video

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At 12:23 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 7, after news organizations began calling the election, Harris tweeted a 16-second video in which she stands in a grassy field wearing athletic clothes and sunglasses, holding a cell phone in her right hand and wired ear buds in her left.[14] A black Chevrolet Suburban crosses the frame in the first few seconds of the video, and a person in a black suit is seen in the upper right portion of the frame.[1] Harris tells the person on the phone, reportedly Biden, "We did it. We did it, Joe! You're going to be the next president of the United States."[15][16]

Harris's husband Doug Emhoff said that he filmed the video after the two received the news of the election result while they were out jogging.[17][18] Twenty minutes before Harris posted the video, Emhoff tweeted a picture of the couple hugging in a grassy area.[19] The event reportedly took place near the Biden campaign's headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.[20]

Reception

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Kamala Harris
@KamalaHarris
 Twitter logo, a stylized blue bird

We did it, @JoeBiden.

7 November 2020[21]

By the afternoon of November 7, the video had been liked on Twitter more than 800,000 times.[22] In the days after the video was posted, creators on TikTok spoofed it using the original audio or their own renditions, exaggerating Harris's lilting tone and the lack of enunciation in her third sentence.[23]

The phrase "We did it, Joe!" became adopted by White House personnel, including Harris and Emhoff, as a form of celebration.[18] In February 2022, Kanye West released the song "Louis Bags", which samples the "We did it, Joe!" video in its introduction.[24] In June 2023, the actress Keke Palmer delivered an impression of the "We did it, Joe!" phrase onstage with Harris at an event in New Orleans.[25] Harris became known for releasing videos of consequential calls with political allies, posting a similar recording of a call with running mate Tim Walz in August 2024.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Harris, Kamala [@KamalaHarris] (November 7, 2020). "We did it, @JoeBiden" (Tweet). Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Montgomery, Blake (July 5, 2024). "#KHive: Kamala Harris memes abound after Joe Biden's debate disaster". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Clemens, Danny (December 7, 2020). "Remembering Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant: Tweets honoring icons lost are year's most-liked on Twitter". ABC7 San Francisco. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Pugh, Jamia (July 22, 2022). "Kamala Harris jokingly recalls how the viral 'We did it Joe' meme came to be". ABC Audio. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Pilkington, Ed; McCarthy, Tom (March 28, 2020). "The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  6. ^ Lizza, Ryan (March 27, 2020). "Inside Joe Biden's bizarre coronavirus bunker". Politico. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Cassidy, Christina A. (August 16, 2021). "Report shows big spike in mail ballots during 2020 election". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Atske, Sara (November 20, 2020). "The voting experience in 2020". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Kang, Michael S. (November 4, 2020). "The election results are delayed because so many people voted. That's a good thing". NBC News. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Riccardi, Nicholas (November 2, 2020). "AP Explains: The election result may be delayed. That's OK". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  11. ^ Timm, Jane C.; Edelman, Adam (February 27, 2024). "The 2020 election took days to call. Could it happen again this year?". NBC News. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  12. ^ Previti, Emily (January 6, 2021). "A contentious year: How Pennsylvania's tumultuous 2020 election unfolded". WITF. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Becket, Stefan; Quinn, Melissa; Segers, Grace; McNamara, Audrey; Watson, Kathryn; Baldwin, Sarah Lynch; Freiman, Jordan (November 8, 2020). "Biden wins White House after taking Pennsylvania". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "Kamala Harris Congratulates Joe Biden: 'We Did it, Joe.'". The Wall Street Journal. November 7, 2020. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "'We did it, Joe!': Kamala Harris calls president-elect Biden to celebrate election victory – video". The Guardian. November 7, 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  16. ^ Spocchia, Gino (November 7, 2020). "Kamala Harris says 'we did it' as she becomes first female VP-elect". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  17. ^ Lakritz, Talia (August 10, 2022). "Doug Emhoff wants credit for recording Kamala Harris saying 'We did it, Joe' in the viral 2020 election video". Business Insider. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Gerson, Jennifer (August 8, 2022). "Kamala Harris made history — so her husband did, too". The 19th. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  19. ^ Emhoff, Doug [@DouglasEmhoff] (November 7, 2020). "So proud of you. ❤️❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸" (Tweet). Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Ting, Eric (November 7, 2020). "Kamala Harris was out on a jog when Joe Biden was declared president-elect". SFGate. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  21. ^ Kamala Harris [@KamalaHarris] (November 7, 2020). "We did it, @JoeBiden" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Morin, Rebecca (November 7, 2020). "'We did it': Video shows Kamala Harris calling Joe Biden after presidential win". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  23. ^ Smith, Katie Louise (November 12, 2020). "Kamala Harris saying "We did it Joe" has been turned into a TikTok meme". Capital. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Nolan, Emma (February 23, 2022). "Kanye West Samples Kamala Harris' 'We Did It Joe' on 'Donda 2' Track". Newsweek. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Sanusi, Tayi (July 20, 2022). "Keke Palmer Did Her Kamala Harris Impression—In Front of Kamala Harris". NBC Insider. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  26. ^ Ramirez, Isabell (August 6, 2024). "Harris breaks the news to Walz using her signature phone call videos". Politico. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
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