Support truly
independent journalism
Vice President Kamala Harris’s internet stardom didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree.
Long before she became a “brat” adored by Gen Z, Harris has made waves online for many viral moments, from the vice president enthusastically showing off her dance moves to earnestly telling President Biden, “We did it, Joe!” in a phone call after he clinched the White House in 2020.
Coconut and tree emojis have cropped up across the internet as symbols of support for the presumptive Democratic nominee, alongside montages of her powerful laugh, as younger voters embrace a younger presidential prospect.
From “that little girl was me” to “We did it, Joe,” here is the context of all in which her meme history lives and what came before the coconut tree.
‘That little girl was me’
In a heated moment at a 2020 Democratic debate, Harris took a jab at Joe Biden about his past opposition to busing: “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. And she was bused to school everyday. That little girl was me.”
‘We did it, Joe’
The debate rivals-turned-running mates celebrated their 2020 victory, which could be summed up in a phone call from Harris to Biden: “We did it, Joe.”
‘Big Sister General’
Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris and her sister Maya Harris spoke at the Women in the World conference in 2012, where Maya disclosed that she disliked calling her sister “General Harris.”
Maya said: “When she’s president of the United States, I will call her Miss President, but until then you’re just Kamala.”
“No, I’m Big Sister…Big Sister general,” Kamala said, prompting both sisters to burst into laughter.
‘You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’
In May 2023, the vice president said in speech: “My mother used to — she 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?’”
She started chuckling before adding: “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you. Everything is in context.”
‘We’re not going back’
“America has tried these failed economic policies before. But we are not going back. We are not going back,” Harris said at her first campaign rally as a presidential candidate in Milwaukee on Tuesday. The crowd then began chanting: “We’re not going back!”
