Kamala Harris is hoping for a boost to her presidential bid – after being caught up in a British pop star’s social media trend.
The US Vice-President has embraced the ‘brat summer’ craze, which was kick-started by Charli XCX.
The term refers to the 31-year-old singer’s album Brat, released last month, which was yesterday nominated for a Mercury Prize.
Following the news that Joe Biden had dropped out of the presidential race this week, Charli XCX wrote on social media: ‘Kamala IS Brat.’
The post sparked a flurry of internet ‘memes’, which the Harris campaign is now using to win young voters.
British singer Charli (left), 31, posted a tweet branding the Vice President (right) as ‘brat’ after Joe Biden endorsed her for the Democratic presidential nominee and dropped out of the race
Charli XCX, 31, took to X on Sunday saying, ‘kamala IS brat’ – an endorsement referencing the name of her album released earlier this year
The header on her official campaign account has been modelled on the Brat album cover, using the same font and shade of green.
Supporters of the Democrat have also edited her speeches to songs from the album. One viral post remixed the song Von Dutch with a speech Ms Harris gave last year.
In it, she recounted her mother 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.’
Abigail De Kosnik, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told US news channel NBC that Ms Harris was ‘plugged in’ to popular culture in a way that previous Democrat candidates have not been.
Describing why the Vice-President is embracing the ‘brat summer’ trend, she added: ‘The brat girl is sort of like the unexpected leader, the unexpected winner.’
Ms Harris has also been endorsed by musicians such as Beyoncé and Cardi B, while US singer Kesha mashed up a video of her ‘cackling’ with her 2011 song Blow.
Yesterday Charli XCX said that watching Brat ‘take on a life of its own’ had been ‘wild’ as she was nominated for a Mercury Prize.
Brat, which is her sixth studio album, is one of 12 albums to be shortlisted.
Hailing the second time she has ever been nominated for the award, Charli XCX posted: ‘Brat has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and I really am so honored [sic].
‘It’s so nice to see this body of work get so much love, it truly means the world and watching it take on a life of its own has just been so wild and quite f****** crazy.’
‘Brat’ is Charli XCX’s (pictured) sixth album
Kamala Harris (pictured) has embraced the ‘brat summer’ trend after Charli XCX’s viral tweet
Charli, 31, tweeted ‘kamala IS brat’, a reference to her newly released album brat (album artwork pictured on left). Harris’ campaign quickly adopted the album’s lime green aesthetic for her Kamala HQ X account (right)
Corinne Bailey Rae has also been nominated as has Beth Gibbons for her first solo studio album Lives Outgrown.
Rock band The Last Dinner Party has also been recognised for its debut album.
The winner, to be announced in September, will receive a £25,000 reward. However there will be no live awards ceremony this year, only ‘extensive promotional activity’.
