“Kamala’s a brat,” British pop star Charli XCX posted on her X account, referring to her latest album, “Brat,” and the iconic green album cover that became a symbol of Gen Z this summer. X’s official Harris campaign account, formerly known as Twitter, supported the tribute, changing its header to match the album’s colors and font to show it understood the tribute.
As concerns have grown in recent months about U.S. President Joe Biden’s ability to win the election, Vice President Harris, 59, has energized digitally-active voters in a way that Biden hasn’t.
And after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Harris revamped her campaign’s online presence by adopting a social media trend inspired by the cover of pop star Charli XCX’s “Brat” album. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee included references to the album throughout her campaign account and renamed her profile “Kamala HQ.”
The rebranding comes after Charlie publicly endorsed President Joe Biden, tweeting “Kamala is a brat” shortly after the latter announced he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing his vice president.
By Monday, Harris had fully embraced Charli’s endorsement, posting a new photo on her account in the same lime green color as Brat’s album cover.
What is “Brat”?
The album artwork is a lime green rectangle with the word “brat” written in low-resolution Arial font in the middle, which according to Charlie symbolizes a figure holding “a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a white strappy top with no bra”, seen as a rejection of the “clean girl” aesthetic trend popularized on social media, embracing a more rebellious, hedonistic attitude.
“You’re like a girl who’s a little messy, who likes to party, and who says stupid things sometimes,” Charli explained in the video.
The #bratsummer trend has taken social media by storm, with nearly one million posts and countless individuals and businesses adopting the lime green theme.
As pressure mounted for Biden to drop out of the race after a series of public gaffes, Harris’ supporters began making videos combining footage of her speaking with songs from Charlie’s album. One particularly viral video shows VP Harris telling her mother’s story at a White House event in 2023, emphasizing the importance of understanding one’s background and history.
The Kamala HQ X account has also started reposting memes and incorporating expletives, garnering attention from younger voters who see her as the “cool girl” choice.
