By Claire Hornkohl and Sabrina Seldon
From the October/November 2024 issue.
As soon as Vice President Kamala Harris announced her presidential candidacy, multiple celebrities announced their support. Similarly, several celebrities remain in support of former President Donald Trump since his last election run.
As Brat Summer cools down and the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, social media continues to redefine political engagement. Our top candidates are leaning into the latest trends and influencer culture to connect with young voters through the media differently.
“Brat Summer,” a term coined by singer Charli XCX after the release of her latest album Brat, is a cultural movement of youthful independence, rebellion and irreverence for Generation Z — a generation often thought of as skeptical of traditional societal structures.
The night President Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential election, Charli XCX took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted “kamala IS brat.” Soon after, Harris and her campaign channeled their inner Brat energy and brought it to social media.
Michigan State University senior Meg Brady respects Harris’ new campaign strategy. “Kamala’s campaign has worked very hard to reach a generation of voters that was seemingly unreachable, by using pop culture and trends that they already knew and combining it with the political landscape,” Brady said.
After the apparent endorsement from Charli XCX, @kamalahq on Instagram, the Harris campaign’s main social media account, changed its profile picture to the Brat typeface: a bright green background and arial font. This account’s bio, “Providing context” alludes to another viral Harris meme. Taken from a speech she gave in 2023 where she quoted her mother saying, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” adding, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
MSU junior Bella Bernaiche has similar thoughts as Brady regarding Harris’ new campaign strategy. “I think her utilizing Brat and the ‘meme’ aspect in her campaign is extremely smart,” Bernaiche said. “Reaching out to that younger voting audience, as it is our first time voting in a presidential election, is a very clever tactic.”
National Public Radio discussed Harris’ new campaign plans stating, “…it plans to invest in new digital ads on campus and social media, double its youth organizing staff around the country and launch a college campus tour in battleground states.”
On the other side of the political spectrum, Donald Trump has also been attempting to keep up with the younger generations through social media.
After the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, many famous and controversial influencers like Logan Paul reacted with a surge of support for him in the upcoming election.
Trump appeared on Paul’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, during which he urged young voters to vote for him and gifted Paul a t-shirt with his mugshot on it, seemingly making light of his recent convictions.
Bernaiche commented, “Logan Paul is as problematic as it gets in that influencer/YouTuber world.”
Trump has also been utilizing AI on his X account to push social media engagement as the elections nears. He posted a collage of partly AI generated images depicting support from Taylor Swift fans. The deep fake was utilized as a provocative meme rather than an attempt to warp the truth.
MSU senior Caesar Roundtree has paid close attention to Trump’s AI use on X in reaction to this year’s election. “It’s promoting false narratives and people are unfortunately very likely to believe these AI images in recent times, so it casts a dangerous rhetoric on things,” Roundtree said.
This has brought forward conversations regarding the ethics behind AI use to generate political content and its falsification of the truth. Regardless of the real attempt behind the content, it is seen as an act of disinformation to some.
The line between politics and entertainment remains blurred, making it even more crucial for candidates to use their platforms to amplify their message, if used properly.
The 2024 presidential campaign reflects a shift in how candidates engage voters, using social media trends and influencer endorsements to connect with younger generations. As platforms like X and AI tools become central to political messaging, questions about authenticity and the ethical implications of digital content continue to grow.