Election News

The surprising origin of the Kamala Harris coconuts meme

Republicans thought they had the perfect attack on her. It backfired completely.
By
Vice President of the USA Kamala Harris speaks during NAN 2023 convention day 3 at Sheraton Times Square in New York on April 14, 2023
Vice President of the USA Kamala Harris speaks during NAN 2023 convention day 3 at Sheraton Times Square in New York on April 14, 2023 Photo: Shutterstock

After President Joe Biden announced his exit from the 2024 electoral race and immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement on the Democratic ticket, memes started going viral with a clip of Harris talking about a “coconut tree” in a 2023 speech.

These memes even generated weird dance remixes, and social media users have begun adding coconut emojis to their screen names and online bios. But those unfamiliar with her speech might feel confused about all this, its meaning, and whether it’s all intended as a fun compliment or an insult.

Related:

The Democrats are quickly unifying behind Kamala Harris as their presidential choice

Democrats are quickly shaking off the paralysis of Biden’s failing campaign and getting excited about his VP’s chances.

The coconut line came from a speech that Vice President Harris delivered during a May 2023 swearing-in ceremony for commissioners on the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. In other words, she was speaking to government appointees who would pursue economic and educational advancements for Hispanic Americans.

During her speech, she emphasized that the commissioners would not only work to help upcoming generations of Hispanic Americans, but also to address the needs of their parents, grandparents, teachers, and communities that helped raise them. “Because none of us just live in a silo,” she said. “Everything is in context.”

She continued, “My mother… would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. 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.”

This one moment from an otherwise low-profile speech gained attention at the time for several reasons: First, it showed the usually-serious Harris in a lighter, joking moment. Second, her Indian-born mother’s quotation embodied the sort of folksy, off-kilter wisdom that older generations are often known for. Third, Harris punctuated the story with broad physical gestures and her familiar laugh.

A clip of her comment immediately gained notoriety among commenters and right-wingers who accused her of being drunk, stoned, or behaving strangely. The YouTube channel for the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) GOP War Room reposted a video from her speech at the obscure meeting in order to draw attention to it, hoping it would turn people against her.

Even @RNCResearch, a profile on X (formerly Twitter) run by the re-election campaign of former President Donald Trump posted a video of her comment, intending to share it as a strange or embarrassing moment.

But the opposite happened.

The moment immediately generated memes as content creators referenced her line in subtitles added to still frames of TV shows, photos, illustrations, and crudely drawn webcomics that only served to highlight the comment’s inherent, de-contextualized strangeness.

However, these memes have found a new life now that Harris has become the first woman of color to be a major party presidential nominee. In other words, the Republicans’ plan to use the clip as some sort of attack ad backfired.

Some X commenters also joked that Republicans are now regretting helping elevate the clip to begin with.

Explaining why the clip has gained a resurgence of popularity, Marianna Pecora, communication director of Voters for Tomorrow, recently told CNN, “What people are really resonating with there is that what she’s saying is something that really is meaningful and important to consider, and something that we have to remember in our everyday life. But she said it in such a fun, relatable, and entertaining way, and that brings young people into it.”

Pecora added that the memes could help engage younger voters, especially Gen Z voters who are more connected to social media and who have been more politically engaged in recent elections.

CNN commentator Van Jones recently said that Harris had gone from “cringe to cool” in 24 hours thanks to videos and memes of her going viral on TikTok and other platforms.

“There’s something happening that’s hard to quantify, because what’s happening on TikTok right now, is extraordinary,” he said Monday on CNN. “All the things that were cringey about Kamala — her laugh, the coconut tree comment, being unburdened by what — all those weird things she’s said.”

“She’s gone from cringe to cool in 24 hours as a whole generation has taken all that content and remixed it in all these incredible TikTok videos,” he said.

Trump is trying to turn the tide against her. During a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this past Saturday, July 20, 2024, he attacked Harris. Trump said Harris was “crazy,” telling the crowd, “I call her ‘Laughing Kamala. You can tell a lot by a laugh. She’s crazy. She’s nuts.”

When asked last Saturday how he felt about Trump’s “Laughing Kamala” insult, Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff responded, “That’s all he’s got?”

Don't forget to share:

Discover more


Election News
Kamala Harris Republican National Committee (RNC)

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

Trans teen stabbed 18 times in horrific attack at Miami’s airport

Previous article

JD Vance tried to bully Ireland out of passing a trans-inclusive hate speech law

Next article

More on LGBTQ Nation