As US Vice President Kamala Harris joins the run for the 2024 presidential polls, the famous old coconut tree memes are back and flooding the internet again. Several social media users are now posting coconut and coconut tree emojis, with some even sharing pictures of themselves climbing coconut trees.
But why? The coconut tree memes first surfaced after a 2023 speech of the US V-P. She had said, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
Now that Kamala has secured support from the Democratic Party to become their presidential nominee and has recently kicked off her first full day of campaigning, aiming to win the November 5 election, the memes are back.
In 2023, Kamala had mentioned a coconut tree in her speech at the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners for the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.
“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,” the Democratic nominee had said.
The coconut meme, although being used by supporters of Kamala Harris, is said to be very controversial.
Cybersecurity lawyer Isvari Maranwe, on a TikTok video, explained that the term “coconut”, which has become synonymous with Kamala, has been used in a discriminatory way against Indian Americans.
However, Kamala Harris has yet not commented on the meme.
Kamala Harris has won the endorsement of former speaker Nancy Pelosi, US President Joe Biden among other party members. According to a survey, Kamala Harris won the support of enough Democratic delegates to contest against Republican rival Donald Trump.
