Top Line
Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered millions of views and followers on her Kamala HQ TikTok and X campaign accounts by embracing memes and popular TikTok sounds and trends, marking a shift from the Biden campaign’s TikTok strategy, which struggled to connect with audiences.
Vice President Kamala Harris launched her own TikTok account on Thursday. (Photo: Erin Schaff/…) [+] POOL/AFP) (Photo by ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Harris’ first post as a presidential candidate from Kamala HQ was set to the popular TikTok song “360” by Charli XCX and consisted of a slideshow of photos linking her campaign to Charli XCX’s neon-green “Brat Summer” aesthetic.
The account’s second post, which has garnered 6 million likes, contrasts several unflattering photos of Harris with former President Donald Trump, set to “Feminomenon,” a popular song on TikTok and a hot topic among Gen Z listeners, by Chapel Lawn.
The most-watched video from Kamala HQ is a slideshow about the 2024 election being decided between a convicted felon and a former prosecutor, set to “It Boy” by Canadian rapper bbno$. The song is a hugely popular soundtrack on TikTok, where it has been used in more than 720,000 videos.
Another video from Kamala HQ is a supercut of footage of Harris dancing and some of her most talked-about quotes, including “Mr. Vice President, I’m going to speak” from the 2020 vice presidential debate, set to a popular mashup of Lorne’s song “Hot To Go!” and Ian’s “Magic Johnson,” a video similar to the “fancam” compilations that social media users make for their favorite music artists.
The approach is a stark difference from the videos Biden uploaded during his campaign, many of which were news clips, videos about Trump and Project 2025, or simple videos of Biden staffers speaking to the camera, which did not attract much attention.
Harris launched a personal TikTok account on Thursday where she posted two videos and has garnered nearly 2 million followers, but Biden has never previously had a personal TikTok account.
How is Harris beating Biden on TikTok?
Kamala HQ’s TikTok account has nearly 2 million followers, nearly quadrupling since Harris launched her presidential campaign on Sunday. The account had about 440,000 followers on Sunday, according to Social Blade. Videos posted since Sunday have garnered much higher views than those posted when Biden was running. Most of the account’s videos posted when Biden was running hovered around 100,000 views, some of which didn’t even reach six figures, and few were successful in reaching 1 million views. Since rebranding to Kamala HQ, all of the videos posted by the account have exceeded 1 million views, with three videos exceeding 10 million views.
How big is Harris’ influence on TikTok?
Beyond Kamala HQ posts, interest in Harris has been growing on TikTok this week. Hashtags such as #kamalaharris and #harris2024 have seen a surge in engagement on TikTok, with #harris2024 ranking 4th on the list of TikTok trending hashtags in the U.S. Videos using the hashtag #harris2024 were viewed 51 million times in the seven days between July 18 and July 24 in the U.S. The #kamalaharris hashtag was viewed 574 million times in the same period, making up a significant portion of the hashtag’s overall 4 billion views. Interest in both hashtags has been growing daily since Harris’ announcement, with roughly half of each hashtag’s audience being users between the ages of 18 and 24.
How does Harris’ reach on TikTok compare to Trump’s?
Though Trump posts rarely, he has a much larger following on TikTok than Harris. He has garnered 9 million followers on the platform and more than 164 million views since posting his first video with Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White on June 1. Trump’s decision to join TikTok came as a surprise, as he had tried to ban the app as president, but his campaign said he joined the app to “get the message of President Trump’s victory to every voter possible.”
tangent
Harris has spawned a number of viral memes since her candidacy, including the now-famous “You think you fell from a coconut tree? You exist in all the circumstances you live in and everything that came before you.” The quote, taken from a White House speech last year in which Harris spoke about equity in education, has become a tongue-in-cheek slogan for her campaign, with supporters adopting coconut emojis and remixing her quote into popular songs. Social media users have edited footage of Harris laughing and dancing to songs from British pop singer Charli XCX’s album “Brat,” making her the poster child for the neon-green “Brat Summer” aesthetic. Charli XCX described “Brat Summer” as “confidence, putting yourself out there, getting out there, moving around, being the center of attention,” and furthered the comparison by tweeting, “Kamala is Brat.” The Kamala HQ account referenced the memes, and Harris herself said on her own TikTok account that she “heard I was on the ‘For You Page’ recently.”
Main Background
Harris’ TikTok efforts are likely an attempt to garner support from younger voters. A New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters conducted July 22-24 showed that after Biden’s withdrawal, Trump leads Harris overall 48% to 47%, but among likely voters ages 18-29, Harris leads 59% to 38%. An Axios/Generation Lab poll conducted July 22-24 found that Harris has a larger lead over Biden than Trump among likely voters ages 18-34. In this age group, Harris leads Trump 60% to 40%, while Biden leads 53% to 47%. Record turnout among voters under 30, who leaned to Biden in 2020, was a key age group for Biden to win the election.
Amazing facts
Harris has previously expressed concerns about ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, telling ABC’s “This Week” in March that the Biden administration “will negotiate with the owners, and we have national security concerns about the owners of TikTok,” and insisted that the administration does not support banning TikTok. The following month, Biden signed a bill banning TikTok in the US unless ByteDance sells the platform within 270 days.
References
Kamala Harris’ ‘coconut tree’ remark explained: What she meant and why it’s going viral as she launches her campaign (Forbes)
How Kamala Harris is embracing memes like Charlie XCX’s “Brat Summer” and “Project Coconut Tree” (Forbes)
What You Need to Know About Beyoncé’s “Freedom” – Kamala Harris’ New Election Song (Forbes)
