Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Kamala Harris has received a number of significant endorsements, including a surprising one from a British pop star with a huge following among Gen Z.
Charlie XCX, who has 3.6 million followers on TwitterX (formerly Twitter), has announced his support for the current vice president for the Democratic nomination.
“Kamala is a brat,” she wrote to X, referencing her album “Brat.”
The idea of ”Brat Summer” has spread quickly across the internet and is seen as a rejection of “clean girl” culture and an embrace of hedonism, fun and rebellion.
In July, Charlie XCX told the BBC’s Nick Grimshaw that her essentials for a bra-less summer are “a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top”.
“You seem like a girl who’s kind of messy, likes to party, and says stupid things sometimes,” Charli XCX said in her TikTok series “Off the Record.”
“She feels like herself, maybe she’s mentally exhausted, but she’s the kind of person who gets over it and is very honest, very forthright. She’s a little quirky. She does stupid things sometimes. But that’s sassy. You’re sassy. That’s sassy.”
TikTok, Gen Z’s most popular social media app, is certainly having fun with this unlikely pairing.
Content creators compiled some of Harris’ most talked-about quotes, such as “You think I fell off a coconut three?”, set to music by Charli XCX.
In some clips, the lyrics of Charli XCX’s song “360” are changed from “I’m everywhere, I’m Julia” to “I’m Kamala.”
Many people have also written about this in X, with New Yorker staff writer Naomi Fry writing, in typical Gen Z no-capitalization style, “Would a Kamala Presidency be ‘Code for Sassy’?”
Even the cover photo for Kamala HQ, the “official breaking news page for VP Harris’ presidential campaign,” is in the style of a Brat album.
If Harris is officially selected as the candidate, she will have less than 100 days to campaign to defeat Donald Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign event in Kalamazoo, Michigan on July 17. A popular British pop star has endorsed Harris. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign event in Kalamazoo, Michigan on July 17. A popular British pop star has endorsed Harris. AP
Biden endorsed Harris soon after she withdrew, and was soon followed by other prominent Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
But while former President Barack Obama praised Biden when he left office, he stopped short of endorsing Harris.
“We will be navigating uncharted territory, but I have extraordinary confidence that the leadership of our party can create a process that will produce high-quality candidates,” he said Sunday.
“I believe Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous and united America that offers opportunity for all will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August, and I look forward to each of us being ready to carry that message of hope and progress into November and beyond.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
