In the age of social media, our emerging obsession with the political figure rather than their politics contributes to the success of someone like Donald Trump. It is the reason why a moment as significant as losing the top of his right ear on July 14 was more precious to his campaign than anything he could have ever said or done.
The photo of his raised fist and blood-smeared cheek as he stared down determinedly at thousands of adoring fans will undoubtedly find its way onto the pages of history books for decades to come.
It will be the defining photo of Trump's divisive legacy.
Donald Trump is such a fascinating figure to analyse, and it’s not just because of his radical views or his compulsive lying. His background and how he landed in the Oval Office make him so unique that he’s simply impossible to ignore.
This ultimately builds the bedrock of the power behind the ‘MAGA’ team.
Trump’s not just a politician; he’s a reality TV show host. He came from the clouds and won an “unwinnable” election in 2016. His claims of a ‘stolen’ election incited a riot on the US Capitol. He loves pornstars, “pussy” and taco bowls. He brags about sexual assault. He has an instantly recognisable campaign slogan. He brags about his golfing ability. He pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation - in the midst of a global pandemic.
Much of this would derail any politician's career, let alone the leader of the largest Western superpower. But still, his name will appear on the presidential ballot come November. Trump’s ability to sway people in the media and online comes from his rather impressive ability to turn any unwanted press into good press.
He gets shot in the head but appears to pose for the now-viral photo on stage, knowing the opportunity it presented. He got arrested, so naturally his mug shot becomes a viral image, used by the right as political ammunition. When the Black Lives Matter movement was in full force in 2020, the then president took the time to clear protesters and took a photo in front of a burned church with his bible.
Many voters are happy ignoring the seriousness of Trump's promises, lies, and policies, simply based on the fact that he markets himself so well. The assassination attempt in July only enhanced this fact.
Suddenly people weren’t sharing his mugshot, Stormy Daniels-based memes, or his ‘out-of-pocket’ quotes. They were sharing memes about the assassination, all working in Trump’s favour.
Suddenly, Trump isn’t the ‘convicted felon candidate’, the ‘Qanon candidate’, or the ‘white supremacy candidate’. He’s the unkillable candidate.
The Democratic shakeup in the weeks following the assassination that ousted 81-year-old Joe Biden and put 59-year-old Kamala Harris in the spotlight reflects the party’s realisation that they must improve their image. Some recent polls would suggest that this change has got them back into contention, with 56% of voters agreeing that Harris was "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 22% of registered voters felt the same way about Joe Biden.
In a country where voting is not compulsory, victory for the Democratic Party normally depends on their ability to sway people into voting booths. Trump loyalists will always come out in their tens of millions, but the Kamala Harris team will be aware of the importance of getting the youth on their side.
Enter: Charli XCX and her glorious #bratsummer
A single tweet from the British popstar catapulted the Harris campaign into the social media ethos and gave the Vice President more internet presence than she could have wished for.
It has shaped the early parts of her campaign, as the likely Democratic nominee leaned into the meme, rebranding her profile on X to match the brat theme.
Kamala Harris presents as a politician who is truly herself. Similar to her opponent, she is uniquely prone to saying bizarre things to the media and spinning them in her favour –- a key strategy her team has employed as her campaign gains momentum.
The now-viral ‘Coconut Tree’ speech she gave in 2023, has been a highlight of the Democrat's social media campaign. In an attempt to highlight the importance of parents, grandparents, and teachers, the Vice President quoted her mother. “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?’”
The unusual quote raised eyebrows online and was used by the right wing to create a ridiculous, ‘cringey’ image of Harris. Instead, the waves of recent support from Gen Z, have made the coconut meme turn Harris into somewhat of a hero in the Twittersphere. Harris supporters have said they’ve been “coconut-pilled.”
In comparison, somewhat aware that they will struggle to keep up with the Democrats online, the Trump team has ramped up their radicalism, including a promise “to launch the largest deportation operation” in the history of the US. As well as continuing to push his strong positions on a multitude of divisive issues, in his ‘Agenda47’ manifesto.
Some of the promises laid out in Agenda47 include “protecting students from the radical left and Marxist maniacs infecting educational institutions”. As well as, collecting billions from private university endowments to create an ‘American Academy’ that will be “strictly non-political…there will be no wokeness or jihadism allowed—none of that's going to be allowed.”
Historically, when a political candidate as powerful as Donald Trump is making such radical promises, his opposing candidate would rebut with differing strong policies, this hasn’t necessarily been the case for Kamala Harris. She certainly has attacked Trump on ‘Agenda47’ and the highly controversial and unofficial “Project 2025”. However, in the early weeks of her campaign, much of her policies haven’t been as concrete as Trump’s.
For the Democrats, after ridding an ageing man whose ‘strong policies’ sent their polling numbers crashing, they understand the best way to gain youth trust is to venture into the whimsical and relentless world of the internet.
Everyone in the political world is now asking themselves: Could a metaphorical coconut tree defeat an extremist deportation scheme?
Harris responded to Trump's border policies at the Vice-President’s most recent Atlanta rally by saying, “He does not walk the walk. Or as my friend Quavo would say, ‘He does not walk like he talks it’.”
Is there a better sign of the times in American politics?
The event in the battleground state of Georgia aimed to raise much-needed support for Harris, particularly in the capital, Atlanta (a city that is 47 per cent black). So it is significant that the Harris team chose to quote the Migos frontman over the countless civil rights leaders and politicians to come out of Atlanta – think Martin Luther King Jr. or Jimmy Carter.
Of course, a politician's social media presence has been a factor in their popularity across the Western world for a while now. But it seems that 2024 is where large-scale political organisations have started prioritising their online image over policies, in an attempt to win the Gen Z vote.
Just look at the most recent UK election, where TikTok became a battleground for a flat-out ‘meme war’ between the major parties.
Since the counterculture movement of the 1960s, politicians have attempted (and often failed) to seem relevant to the youth of the day. The challenge is to connect with youth in a meaningful way, in a way that makes younger generations feel like they are being represented by ‘one of their own’. The meme war in the UK and the current Harris campaign show us that social media and the internet are now the best way for politicians to achieve this.
But, if you can take off your snobby, traditionalist glasses for a second, the Harris party online seems to have breathed some life back into the Left of America. A first in about 2 years.
Most of it thanks to Twitter (now X), Charli XCX, and a metaphorical coconut tree.
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