Most people found out about Joe Biden ending his presidential campaign and endorsing Kamala Harris not through an official news alert, but through a meme. The meme was likely riddled with coconuts, Harris’s manic laughter, and a slime-green color filter. If you don’t know why, it’s clear that you need some education when it comes to Kamala Harris memes. The number one Harris-inspired meme involves a coconut tree. Their origin lies in a speech Harris delivered at a White House event back in May 2023. As the vice president spoke during the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics, she focused on the idea that “none of us just live in a silo.” More specifically, Harris shared some words of wisdom from her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan: "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." In this bit of oratorical poeticism, the (coconut) seed of the meme was planted. It's not just the quote itself, but the 3-act play of a delivery: First, it's the fact that Kamala brings up coconuts, which is inherently funny. Then, she breaks into her signature unbothered, slightly maniacal laugh — heightening the absurdity — and then sobers up to deliver a truth bomb that hits the universal human experience. This, then, is the kicker: The humor lies in the sudden contrast of silly and serious. We were just talking coconuts, and now you're reminding us that our ancestors have felt every emotion we have and more? It's all ripe meme territory.
