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A viral video of Vice President Kamala Harris showing off a haul of vinyl records has been given the meme treatment — and now you can get involved.
Last year, Harris shared a clip on social media where she talked through her purchases from Home Rule Records in Washington, D.C. Among her recommendations was a Charlie Mingus record, who she said was “really one of the greatest jazz performers ever”, as well as Roy Ayers’ ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’, which Harris described as one of her “favourite albums of all time” and a “classic”.
Finally, she showed off Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “beautiful” collaborative 1959 album, ‘Porgy and Bess’.
The video was shared as part of Small Business Week in May 2023, but it’s been recirculating since Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race earlier this month, and confirmed his support for Harris as the Democratic party’s representative in the upcoming election. And inevitably, as it’s the internet, X/Twitter users have been editing stills of the footage to feature Harris holding a series of obscure, outlandish records instead.
I had the pleasure of stopping by HR Records in DC to celebrate Small Business Week.
Mingus, Ayers, Fitzgerald and Armstrong—if you don’t know, now you know! pic.twitter.com/kevTuJMC7K
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 9, 2023
Trump will have to come out and say he prefers the Brix era now pic.twitter.com/WZdGuEfmXW
— The Gordon Jackson Five (@mypalfootfoot7) July 23, 2024
I guess this is an obvious one but might as well get it out the way pic.twitter.com/KJmhPfvpyM
— mitch said (@said_mitch) July 27, 2024
Now, one X/Twitter user (@said_mitch) has made participating in the meme even easier by creating a generator that allows you to impose your own music taste on Harris’s image. You can check it out here.
It’s not the first viral music moment in Harris’s campaign so far. After her bid for the presidency was announced, Charli XCX showed her support by tweeting “Kamala is brat”, in a nod to the success of her latest album that’s become a pop culture phenomenon. This followed a slew of videos showing the Vice President’s speeches mashed up with Charli songs.
Honing into the support from the singer, Harris’ HQ team soon launched a new Twitter banner in the style of Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ artwork – and CNN found itself having to explain the ‘Brat Summer’ trend to its viewers.
@flextillerson kamala harris edit to 360 by charli xcx. brat presidency #kamalaharris #kamala #biden #harris2024 #charli #charlixcx #brat #360
Elsewhere, Harris has been soundtracking her campaign with Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’, a track from her 2016 album ‘Lemonade‘ which features Kendrick Lamar. Harris used the track in her first presidential campaign video, as well as during her inaugural campaign staff meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, where she walked out to the song.
While Beyoncé has yet to publicly comment on Harris running for President, her mother Tina Knowles has voiced her support for the current Vice President on social media: “New, youthful, sharp energy…Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let’s Go #kamala2024.”
I’m Kamala Harris, and I’m running for President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/6qAM32btjj
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 25, 2024
After Harris announced her bid for the presidency, a host of stars soon came out to respond, including Ariana Grande, Lizzo and Barbra Streisand. Olivia Rodrigo also recently threw her support behind Harris over her stance on reproductive rights, and Cardi B reminded fans that she’d been backing Harris, even prior to the announcement Biden was dropping out of the race.
Outlets including Stereogum have reported that Harris’ campaign raised a reported $81million in the 24 hours since Biden dropped out. If that figure is true, it will be the largest single-day total raised by any candidate in US history.
Meanwhile, a writer from The Simpsons has reacted to news the show ‘predicted’ Harris’ presidential nomination.