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| A screenshot of a @KamalaHQ TikTok post from July 22, 2024. |
Meme culture has shaped how American politicians operate and communicate with the public since the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump found himself the subject of meme forums across the internet, from Instagram users mocking his remarks to 4chan users glorifying his image. Rodney Taveira wrote in an article, "While it is of course hyperbolic to claim that memes won Trump the presidency in 2016, they do help explain the enduring passion and nature of his support."
Taveira highlighted that internet users, especially those on 4chan and Reddit forums, gravitated towards Trump's campaign because they viewed him as an outsider like themselves. As he pointed out, the Trump campaign in 2016 did not capitalize on Trump's status as a meme, instead letting social media users give his image a life of its own. "Trump was merely an amplifier for the frowned-upon fringes," Taveira wrote, "a malleable identity that could be adopted by anyone."
The Clinton campaign responded to the Trump memes, specifically those featuring Pepe the Frog, and interpreted the meme as a genuine hate symbol. Users identified that Clinton "missed the joke," and that was that. The Washington Post called the 2016 election, "the most-memed election in U.S. history," but I think 2024 will take that title come November.
In Meme-ing Electoral Participation, Benita Heiskanen identified that disseminating political news via memes engaged people who were typically not involved in politics. Memes allowed social media users to, "take a stand on and react to developing political events in real time."
With the 2024 Presidential Election just around the corner, both Trump and Harris are vigorously campaigning across the country, securing as many votes as possible for what looks to be a close race. Social media plays an important role in both candidates' campaigns, but as I discussed last week, the Harris/Walz campaign is heavily relying on TikTok to reach young voters. Specifically, Harris is using popular meme formats and trending audios to both popularize her campaign and make herself seem funny and relatable to young viewers across America. The Trump campaign is not taking this approach, with his official TikTok posting approximately once a week, not participating in trends or acknowledging memes.
Here are some recent examples of the @KamalaHQ TikTok account capitalizing on meme-culture:
This TikTok, posted on August 10, 2024, garnered 3.4 million views. The campaign used the trending meme audio to emphasize how busy Harris and Walz are on their campaign tour across the country, including video clips of supportive crowds in the many states the team have visited.
On August 7, 2024, the @KamalaHQ TikTok posted this video in response to Trump choosing J.D. Vance as his running mate for Vice President. The video again uses a trending song, but now the slideshow format compares news headlines about both Trump and Vance insulting each other in previous years, juxtaposed to a headline declaring Vance as Trump's official VP.
Posted on that same date, one of the accounts most popular TikToks (currently at 24.5 million views) makes another dig at the Trump campaign. The video shows Harris and Walz walking down the runway of a plane, waving to cameras and greeting people, then cuts to a zoomed-in shot of Trump's plane leaving the airport. The audio says, "...when all of a sudden, I hear this agitating, grating voice," a quote from the frequently-memed TV show Dance Moms. The sound has been used over 145,800 times on TikTok and has amassed tens of millions of views.
On July 22, 2024, the day after Harris launched her presidential campaign, her TikTok account posted a video using trending Gen Z-pop artist Chappell Roan's song "Femininomenon." Consequently, the song earned its biggest streaming day of all time, with 924,000 streams on Spotify following @KamalaHQ's video. Harris's TikTok currently has 57.6 million views and 7.4 million likes.
I would not be surprised if the memes and general image Harris has been receiving will boost her performance in the polls. Harris has fully endorsed and encouraged this light-hearted fun into her campaign which is a breath of fresh air for our current political state. Trump turning to this route could appear disingenuous at this point in the campaign, but trying to appeal to younger audiences through meme marketing might be helpful for him. I enjoyed reading this post and am excited for your future blogs!
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting and fun article to get to read! I think your point of saying the while the 2016 presidential election kicked off the usage of memes in order to spark conversation and community, 2024 certainly has the ability to take the lead as memes continue to develop seemingly daily. Harris's campaign has certainly utilized the power of memes to create discussion and involve the younger generation in the election process. Harris's team stays up to date on daily trends and jokes in order to produce perfectly timed responses and material that the Trump campaign has not been able to do. This has certainly created discussion and talks about Harris and her teams ability to capture the humor and attention of millions of people online. I really enjoyed getting to read your blog and can't wait to read future posts!
ReplyDeleteYou’ve raised some really great points about how meme culture has changed political campaigning, especially since the 2016 election. Memes have become a powerful tool for shaping public opinion and engaging voters in ways that traditional media often can’t compete with. As you noted, Trump’s 2016 campaign effectively harnessed memes to amplify his message and connect with supporters, tapping into a digital culture that resonated with his base. Now, with the 2024 election approaching, the approach to memes and social media seems to be evolving. Harris’s campaign is actively leveraging TikTok trends to engage younger voters and present herself as relatable and in tune with contemporary online culture, as seen in the examples from her TikTok account. This strategy highlights the importance of adapting to new platforms to remain relevant and connect with different demographics. Conversely, Trump’s campaign appears less focused on TikTok or meme trends, which might indicate a strategic choice or confidence in their existing methods to reach their audience. This contrast between the two campaigns underscores how integral social media and memes have become in modern politics, suggesting that the 2024 election could very well outshine 2016 in terms of digital influence and meme-driven engagement.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to know that making a lot of memes helped former president Trump in his 2016 campaign. I did not know that the Washington Post called Trump’s 2016 election, "the most-memed election in United States history," I just wonder if the memes worked in Trumps previous campaign, why his campaign crew did not use it effectible these years and maybe opting to work the same strategies. Is it maybe, because of his opponents in this campaign? It seems like Kamala comes with a different approach to gain younger voters something that Hilary did not do.
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