Kamala Harris’ path to presidential candidate and Internet icon was not an easy one. 

For almost a month, President Joe Biden had been urged to drop out of the race by fellow Democrats who believed he had no chance of winning reelection. Although he put up a fight, he eventually signed his letter of withdrawal on July 21, leaving his running mate and current vice president Kamala Harris to take his place as the democratic nominee only four months before the election. 

Although she has had very little time to make her case and rally support, she has proved to serve as a welcome contrast to the repetitive candidates, specifically through her campaign’s use of Internet platforms.

With a new generation of young voters rolling in, there comes a growing distaste for older politicians, especially the same white men with repetitive, unoriginal campaign managers that we have seen on the ballot for decades. 

This election, there is a new candidate that has interested many. Though her campaign was cut short after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race later than expected, Kamala Harris has taken a new approach to connecting to voters around America.

Since the very first day of her campaign, Harris and her team hired multiple Gen Z social media managers to take over the previous Biden-Harris campaign TikTok account, @bidenhq, and transform it into @kamalahq. 

The very first post made? A reference to the viral summer album “Brat,” in which Charli XCX herself voices support for the new campaign. The post after that? A slideshow calling Harris a “femininomenon,” a reference to the rapidly growing artist Chappell Roan. 

Since these first posts, Kamala HQ has worked tirelessly in winning the heart of Gen Z through the Internet, using Internet trends at perfectly timed moments. In fact, Kamala HQ has consistently taken instances where Harris was made fun of, for example, her speech about falling out of coconut trees and existing in the context, and used them to give her personality as a politician. 

The Kamala HQ TikTok page even announced Tim Walz’s official position as Harris’s running mate with an edit. However, her social media team still manages to simultaneously make serious criticisms and claims of her opponent, Donald Trump, making her campaign appear fun and engaging while also being harsh in making her case in a high-stakes election.

Additionally, Harris’s team has rallied support from Gen Z celebrities such as Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo, which helps continue to rally support for Harris.

For the past few years, social media has proven to be an incredibly powerful tool in influencing public opinion, especially the ideas of younger generations, and the Harris campaign has unlocked this tool with the use of witty humor and influential celebrity voices, which will likely lead to a new era of digital politics.