The Kamala Harris ‘coconut tree’ jokes, explained

WASHINGTON (TND) — A surge of internet jokes connecting Vice President Kamala Harris to coconut trees flooded social media Sunday after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

Biden announced in a letter shared to X Sunday he will no longer seek reelection, saying he feels the decision is best for both the Democratic Party and the country as a whole. He later endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket, who said she will fight to “earn and win this nomination.”

Less than 30 minutes after Biden’s announcement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis posted three emojis on X — a coconut, a palm tree and an American flag. Hours later, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, shared a photo of himself climbing a palm tree with the caption “Madam Vice President, we are ready to help.”

Users across TikTok also chimed in, with one user captioning a video with 25,000 likes “it’s officially a coconut tree summer!”

The phrase stems from a May 2023 speech Harris delivered at the White House. While discussing expanding educational resources for Hispanic and Latino Americans, the vice president emphasized equity, noting “not everybody starts out on the same base.”

“If you’re giving everybody an equal amount, but they’re starting out on different bases, are they really going to have the opportunity to compete and achieve?” Harris asked. “And it’s not just simply about financial resources … but it’s also about — what is the culture of the environment?”

None of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context,” she continued. “My mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes — and she 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? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.'”

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Although Harris used the phrase in 2023, social media users amplified it this summer following Biden’s performance at the first presidential debate. TikTok users have since remixed audio from the vice president’s speech with various songs, including “Apple” by Charli XCX and “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift.

Several other phrases used by Harris have trended on social media in the past. When she and Biden secured the White House in November 2020, a video of Harris saying “We did it, Joe” went viral on X. Additionally, a go-to Harris line of “I can imagine what can be, unburdened by what has been” has spurred a new round of internet jokes this election cycle.