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What Is With Kamala Harris And The Coconut Memes? The Meaning Behind 'Fell Out Of A Coconut Tree,' 'Coconut Pilled' And More Explained
As soon as Joe Biden had a bad debate in June, the internet seem to know all at once: it was coconut time.
Since then, social media has seen a series of coconut memes willing Kamala Harris to replace Biden and become the new Democratic Presidential nominee, a semi-ironic campaign that culminated in Biden stepping back from the primaries and endorsing Harris as the Democratic candidate last Sunday.
Why coconuts? Well, that's where we come in.
Why Are Coconuts Being Used As A Meme In Support Of Kamala Harris?
During her time as Vice President, Kamala Harris didn't do much particularly noteworthy online except drop a series of surreal quotes. One of the most famous of these comes from an anecdote about her mother. During a 2023 address, she said her mother used to complain about young people, saying "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."
The quote got a brief run as a meme, as people found it bizarre and characteristic of Harris' penchant for seeming just a tad off, but it was largely forgotten until Biden's June 2024 debate performance, and then seemingly every Democrat online was embracing the coconut quote and, by proxy, Harris.
For the following weeks, liberals expressed that Kamala Harris was likely the heir apparent to Biden and thus the best chance the Democrats had at winning the White House this November. This phenomenon of optimistically looking at Harris in a new light as the presumptive nominee was dubbed getting "coconut pilled" online, and the Dems were beginning to take it in vast quantities.
What Are Some Coconut Memes?
We've covered the rise of Kamala 2024 memes in the lead-up to Biden dropping out, but now that Biden has officially dropped out and the party has rallied around Harris, the left-leaning side of the internet has become coconut country.
In addition to coconut emoji getting peppered through the timeline, more creative memers have taken to editing Kamala Harris' coconut tree quote into just about anything. For example, here's a video of Kamala Harris coconut pilling coconut malling.
Kamala fans are too creative man what is this😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/4eKF3ijuZ6
— lucas🦕🌴🥥 (@Luctranada) July 22, 2024
There are also dozens of remixes that fit Harris' laugh from the "coconut tree" anecdote into pop songs.
LMAO pic.twitter.com/L2FdbTAV8i
— Mermie🧜🏾♀️ (
lidoledesc0nnes) July 16, 2024
— genie (tallyspies) July 16, 2024
The internet is rallying around coconut memes for Kamala, and now "Brat" parodies after Harris got Charli XCX's endorsement, but good advice for the Harris campaign is to not reference either of these memes on the campaign trail, lest she undercut her own campaign with a Pokémon GO to the polls moment.
For the full history of Kamala Harris coconut memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
