Kamabla

About

Kamabla is a nickname coined by Donald Trump for his presumptive opponent in the 2024 United States Presidential Election, Kamala Harris. After he first used it in a Truth Social post, some were confused as to whether Trump had made a typo or was coining a new nickname as he previously had with "Crooked Hillary," "Sleepy Joe" and "Lyin' Ted." After he repeated it in subsequent posts, the nickname sparked memes and caused discourse, as several found it inscrutable.

Origin

On August 5th, 2024, former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump first used "Kamabla" in a Truth Social^[2] post attacking Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, gaining over 6,400 ReTruths and 25,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Spread

The post led to some confusion about whether or not Trump intentionally misspelled Kamala Harris's name to try and coin a new nickname or if he had simply made a typo, but he continued to use "Kamabla" in his posts over the following several days.

On August 5th, 2024, Twitter / X user @RiverTamYDN^[3] joked that Trump initially made a typo and apparently decided to run with it as his new nickname for Harris, gaining over 40 retweets and 450 likes in two days (shown below).

"Kamabla" generated more discussion on August 6th when Donald Trump posted an attack on Truth Social^[1] imagining Joe Biden could attempt to reclaim the Democratic nomination for President. The post included attacks on "Kamabla" Harris and other high-profile Democratic politicians, and Trump used familiar nicknames for politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The post gained over 7,300 ReTruths and 23,000 likes in one day (shown below).

The post generated media coverage due to what some dubbed Trump's "fanfiction"^[4] about the Democrats, and with attention to the post, more social media users became aware of the "Kamabla" nickname as it spread. The nickname generated discourse about its meaning, as many found it inscrutable.

On August 6th, 2024, Huffington Post journalist S.V. Dáte^[5] posted what he said was a text exchange with a senior Trump campaign official, who instead of answering any of his questions about the nickname, just replied, "Kamabla." The post gained over 3,200 retweets and 31,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).

That same day, Twitter user @ArmandDoma^[6] tweeted that "Kamabla" as a nickname showed Trump had "no juice," gaining over 40 retweets and 440 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References