| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Eli Stokols and Ben Johansen | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren In the three days since Vice President KAMALA HARRIS started running for president, she’s already made the internet fun again. Since Sunday afternoon, social media platforms have been flooded with coconut tree memes and “brat” content. A TikTok posted on the official campaign account (which Harris took over from President JOE BIDEN) featuring the vice president and CHAPPELL ROAN’s “Femininomenon” had 22.6 million views and 4 million “likes” as of Tuesday afternoon — significantly more engagement than anything the president had previously posted (and certainly more effective than influencer HARRY SISSON’s politics explainers). Fan edits of Harris’ coconut tree comment and her famed IJBOLing paired with CHARLI XCX’s song “365” have taken TikTok by storm, with this video amassing 5 million views and 1.4 million likes. Even Swifties have tapped in, mashing up TAYLOR SWIFT songs like “Look What You Made Me Do” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” over her coconut remarks. This edit posted by Democratic strategist KEITH EDWARDS using RUPAUL’s “Call Me Mother” has 2.4 million views, with one comment saying, “I’m suddenly feeling patriotic ✨����.” Embracing her off-the-cuff remarks has already become somewhat of a staple for Kamala HQ, which quickly referenced Harris’ 2022 comments marveling over venn diagrams by posting one to kick off the new campaign just hours after Biden stepped aside. Harris’ immediate virality perhaps should not have come as a surprise. During her 2020 campaign, Harris’ loyal online fan base — known as the #KHive — earned a reputation for flooding social media with positive posts about her and coming at people who were backing other candidates. But just as quickly as very online Dems updated their X names with palm tree and coconut emojis came warnings from the party’s social media gurus: Don’t pull a Dark Brandon, which was fun for maybe 5 minutes back in 2022 before Biden aides tried to make it a thing. The Harris campaign’s challenge now will be to figure out how to make the most of this moment — a swell of ironic content online that’s signaling earnest support for her candidacy — without turning cringe and ruining it (fine, some coconut tree merch is acceptable). Deputy campaign manager ROB FLAHERTY, the very online operative who oversees social media as part of his portfolio, had his staff of even more online Gen Zers redesign the campaign logo and all social media profiles on Sunday following Biden’s endorsement of Harris. The background photo on the rebranded @HarrisHQ account on X was a facsimile of the “brat” album art. The succinct bio on the profile — “Providing context.” — was another inside joke referencing the full Harris quote that turned the coconut emoji into a signal of support. “They have a lot more leeway than Biden HQ did because, as we’ve seen, it’s happening organically and it’s being embraced. They’re jumping into what was already happening and being a part of it versus leading it,” said ANNIE WU HENRY, a digital and political strategist who was dubbed Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN’s “TikTok whisperer.” “What we saw with Dark Brandon, which did happen a little bit organically, but then the campaign really embraced it [and] the organic side of it had kind of stopped in a lot of ways — and I think that’s when it became something that felt a little bit forced for a lot of people,” she added. “And people were not super, you know, thrilled or excited about the candidate at that time. So it wasn’t going to land in the same way.” Earlier this year, the vice president’s team rebuffed the then-Biden campaign’s suggestion to play up the coconut tree meme, believing that it was best to just let the internet do its thing. One Harris campaign staffer said maintaining that kind of restraint would be important moving forward so that they “don’t lean in too much to the point that it becomes cringey.” Other staffers involved said the idea is to wink and nod at the memes so that online supporters feel seen rather than to co-opt the memes themselves. We have already begun to see the dads of the political world try to get in on the bit, including CNN’s JAKE TAPPER and Virginia Sen. TIM KAINE, who are both embracing the out-of-touch boomer energy. The cringe CNN clip from Monday spawned a cringe panel on Fox Business where host STUART VARNEY asked contributor JIMMY FAILLA to explain the whole thing. Failla actually did a decent job explaining the “brat” meme. “It’s like you’re a girl boss, you’re a mess, you don’t always say the right things, you don’t always show up on time, but you’re a likable mess,” he said, before pivoting to a screed against Harris and all brats. “We don’t need a brat in this moment. We need a parent, okay? The border’s open, inflation’s through the roof, the price of gas is doubled — brats did this. A brat attitude of like, ‘I’ll get to it when I get to it, we’re just here living our truth.’” We laughed. But Varney still did not seem to get it. MESSAGE US — Are you CHAPPELL ROAN? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | Live briefings, policy trackers, and procedural, industry, and people intelligence from POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy this election cycle. Secure your seat. | | | | | | | | | What song became a defining anthem of both BARACK OBAMA’s 2008 campaign and his presidency thereafter? (Answer at bottom.)
| | BIDEN WILL SPEAK ON WEDNESDAY: The president will deliver an Oval Office address to the country on Wednesday evening about his historic decision not to seek a second term, the White House announced on Tuesday. The remarks at 8 p.m. Eastern will come one week after Biden was forced off the campaign trail in Las Vegas after testing positive for Covid and four days after his stunning announcement that he was stepping aside as the party’s presumptive nominee. Biden, raspy-voiced and still recovering from Covid in Delaware, was unable to speak about his decision over the weekend. But his remarks tomorrow will still carry weight: He is the first sitting president not to seek reelection since LYNDON B. JOHNSON stepped aside in 1968 due to the growing unrest over America’s involvement in Vietnam. SINCE WE MENTIONED LBJ… The White House also announced on Tuesday that Biden will travel to Austin, Texas, next Monday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Library. That event had been scheduled to take place two Mondays prior but was postponed after the attempted assassination of DONALD TRUMP. It was first shifted to this Wednesday, but the president’s Covid diagnosis and decision to end his campaign shuffled plans again. IN HER SAFE SPACE: She has not held a press briefing in nearly a week, but press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE found time on Tuesday to shoot up to New York City to appear on “The View.” Responding to questions from WHOOPI GOLDBERG and other co-hosts, Jean-Pierre dismissed calls for Biden to resign from the presidency as “ridiculous” and praised him for not clinging to his powerful job. “What we saw from this president in the past couple of days was a human decency, a good man, someone who decided not to put himself first like we’ve seen before but to put the American people first and this country first,” she said. BIBI’S EVERYWHERE: The president will meet with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU in the Oval Office on Thursday, the White House announced. Afterward they’ll meet privately with the families being held hostage by Hamas. Harris is also expected to meet with the Israeli leader in a separate bilateral meeting. Netanyahu’s White House visit will coincide with a trip to Florida on Friday to sit down with Donald Trump in Palm Beach. NO MORE COVID: President Biden tested negative for Covid on Tuesday and is experiencing no symptoms, according to a letter from White House physician KEVIN O’CONNOR. WHAT WILMINGTON WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by CNN’s EM STECK and ANDREW KACZYNSKI, who report on newly dug up comments Ohio Sen. JD VANCE made in 2016, when he repeatedly indicated that he believed Trump committed sexual assault. During a segment on MSNBC in which the network played a clip of JESSICA LEEDS, who accused the former president of sexual assault, Vance responded that it’s difficult not to believe Leeds. “At a fundamental level, this is sort of a ‘he said, she said,’ right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding,” said Vance sarcastically. “Or do you believe that woman on that tape?” he said, referring to Leeds. Campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA and spokesperson JAMES SINGER shared the story on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO WATCH: Donald Trump’s outing on the greens earlier today. Would not say this is the work of a golfer who claims to have won more than 20 club championships. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by NBC’s MARK MURRAY, who presents the challenges that lay ahead for the Harris campaign. NBC polling — which combined responses from surveys conducted in January, April and July before Biden’s exit — shows Harris not only underwater with swing-state voters in terms of popularity, but also with lower net scores than Biden. As Murray writes, “there are more voters who don’t yet register a strong opinion of her, so those numbers could change as the public side of her campaign gets going in earnest. But it’s a potentially vulnerable starting position, though Trump is in similar territory.”
| | THAT’LL WAKE EM UP: Vice President Harris made her debut on the campaign trail as the Democratic nominee for president on Tuesday, vowing to spend the weeks ahead uniting the party against Donald Trump, our MYAH WARD and EUGENE DANIELS report. Speaking at a Milwaukee high school, Harris took the stage to a full minute of cheers and then delivered a rousing speech where she leaned into her background as a prosecutor, pitching herself as a candidate built to beat a convicted criminal. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds, predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers,” Harris said. “Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.” Harris’ remarks, Myah and Eugene write, “signaled a more youthful, energetic and aggressive campaign, one designed to draw the kind of contrast Democrats widely believed Joe Biden could no longer deliver.” IS THAT A LOT? The Harris campaign announced that it and the DNC raised more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon, when Biden endorsed her as the party’s new nominee, and Monday evening. That haul came from 1.1 million unique donors, with 62 percent of them contributing to the campaign for the first time. HOLDOUTS NO LONGER: Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES — two of the last Democratic holdouts on the Harris endorsement train — delivered their joint endorsement of the vice president Tuesday. “President Biden’s selfless decision has given the Democratic party an opportunity to unite around a new nominee, and boy oh boy, are we enthusiastic,” Schumer said. “We are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.” JOE AND MIKA ARE RUNNING THE VP SEARCH: The last two days have seen a number of Harris’ potential running mates appear on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” which has become the first hurdle in what will be a truncated selection process. On Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER and Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ stopped by. Walz, according to NBC’s MONICA ALBA, YAMICHE ALCINDOR and REBECCA SHABAD, is among the five people who Harris aides have asked to submit vetting materials. And although his state may not be as pivotal as, say, Pennsylvania or Arizona, this clip — in which Walz had the hosts cracking up after dismissing Trump and Vance with “these guys are just weird!” — goes a long way to explain why he’s in the mix. CLOONEY’S BACK ON BOARD: GEORGE CLOONEY endorsed Harris’ presidential bid on Tuesday and lavished Biden with praise for his decision not to seek reelection. The actor’s bombshell NYT op-ed urging Biden to step aside following his poor debate performance sent several major donors and Hollywood-types spiraling earlier this month. But in a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Clooney wrote (perhaps optimistically): “President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.” HE WILL LOOK FOR YOU. AND HE WILL SING FOR YOU: TikToker HARRY DANIELS, who, you might remember, hunted down President Biden to quite uncomfortably perform LANA DEL RAY’s “National Anthem,” has found Vice President Harris. This one is an even more excruciating watch, with Daniels performing (for lack of a better word) BEYONCÉ’s “Formation,” which Harris came out to during today’s Milwaukee rally. Coincidence? We think not. If you look closely, you can see the VP questioning the country’s future under this generation.
| | THE FALLOUT CONTINUES: Secret Service Director KIMBERLY CHEATLE resigned on Tuesday after a contentious hearing with lawmakers Monday, in which members on both sides of the aisle ripped into her for her agency’s failure to prevent the shooting of Donald Trump. In a statement, Biden thanked Cheatle for her career of public service. “As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” Biden wrote. “The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions.”
| | ASIDE FROM IT BEING A BOEING 737, THIS SOUNDS GREAT: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Tuesday that it is partnering with United Airlines to test a new approach to monitor carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. United will equip a Boeing 737 with a sophisticated instrument package to measure greenhouse gasses and other pollutants during domestic flights. If successful, the program could lead to a larger network of instrumented commercial aircrafts that would allow for continual monitoring of greenhouse gasses and key observations, like water vapor, above large metropolitan regions in the U.S. and neighboring countries.
| | American Descent (Ben Rhodes for NYRB) ‘Kamala the Cop’ Doesn’t Sound So Bad in 2024 (POLITICO Magazine’s Ankush Khardori) Trump’s New Rival May Bring Out His Harshest Instincts (NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan) American Fury (The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance)
| | Played at both the announcement of his presidential campaign in 2007 and ahead of his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, U2’s “City of Blinding Lights” became the anthem of Obama’s rise to political power. And as HuffPost’s PAIGE LAVENDER wrote in 2017, it was frequently played at his primary rallies, along with songs by STEVIE WONDER and ARETHA FRANKLIN. U2 also played the song live at the Lincoln Memorial during Obama’s 2009 inauguration. “What a thrill for four Irish boys from the North side of Dublin to honor you, sir, the next president of the United States,” frontman BONO said. A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.
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