President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he would not accept the Democratic nomination for the 2024 presidential race. The same day, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be his successor, a decision that has sparked conversations and internet memes among Gen Z voters.
Braden Vick, president of UA College Democrats, said that while he respected Biden’s accomplishments during his tenure in office, his withdrawal from the race was the best decision for the country.
“I’m not a really big believer in the polls, especially the last two presidential elections, the polls were just flat out wrong,” Vick said. “But I can’t lie, the polling was terrible.”
Support for Biden cratered even among Democrats after his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump, and as recently as Thursday, Trump held a 5 point national advantage over Biden in a poll conducted by CBS. By contrast, Harris lagged just 2 points behind Trump in a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University released Monday.
UA College Republicans Chairman Riley McArdle said that he was surprised by Harris being endorsed by President Biden and believes it will be more difficult for Democrats to win against Donald Trump.
“I think it would have happened eventually. I don’t think that the Democratic Party would have allowed him to move forward just because of how bad it’s gotten, especially after the debate,” McArdle said, referencing the concerns of some voters regarding Biden’s mental fitness for office.
Following Biden’s withdrawal, the majority of Democratic politicians have endorsed Harris. According to an AP survey, Harris already has the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“I think a lot of most Democrats would have preferred a more open process, but at this point in the campaign, that’s just not really feasible,” said Richard Fording, a professor in the political science department. “The fact that there’s so many Democratic leaders quickly jumping to endorse Harris indicates that people realize that it would not be good for Democrats to have this long, drawn out competition because time is really running out.”
If the Democratic party hadn’t secured a nominee by Aug. 7, they would have gone over Ohio’s previous deadline to appear on the ballot, which could’ve potentially led to legal challenges. Vick said that he was glad the Democratic Party has united around Harris and that an advantage she held over Biden was her appeal to younger voters.
“In the past 24 hours, the amount of enthusiasm amongst particularly younger voters that I’ve seen for Kamala Harris is really a breath of fresh air,” Vick said.
Young voters’ activity on social media regarding Harris has boomed in the days following Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
Several celebrities have already shown their support for Harris. Charli XCX publicly endorsed Harris in a tweet that gained over 300,000 likes and nearly 50 million impressions as of Tuesday, and Beyonce has allowed Harris to use her single ‘Freedom’ during the campaign.
Harris has been the subject of several internet memes, however. A particular moment from Harris’ speech last year at the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics took off for its out-of-context humor that seemed to stick with Gen Z.
Now the hashtag “Coconut Tree” has gone viral on X under a different interpretation. Gen Z users have remixed the speech to different songs, added a multitude of colors and backdrops, and changed Harris’ voice.
“My mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes, and 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?’” Harris said.
Similar to the coconut tree meme, Charli XCX’s endorsement saying that Harris is brat — a reference to the singer’s 2024 album — continues to gain popularity with young voters through remixes and edits of the vice president.
Jessica Maddox, an assistant professor in the journalism and creative media department, said that although social media cannot replace public opinion, it can give insight into political conversations.
Maddox also said that despite their reputation, internet memes are potent communication devices.
“I think we often overlook them because they’re thought of as silly and funny and jokes, but jokes can be incredibly powerful in communicating things, and memes are incredibly powerful communication devices,” Maddox said.
Maddox added that Harris brings excitement and energy as a candidate in a new election matchup that is a “breath of fresh air” for young voters.
Fording said that the democratic process only works to the extent that people participate and that young voters represent a constituency with unique interests.
“I think young people feel that they’re not represented well in the political process,” Fording said. “I would encourage young people to talk about the election with their friends and try to encourage your friends to vote as well.”
