Biden-Harris dropout memes mark the legacy of 2020s political humor
Biden Harris dropout memes are any gags related to the decline of Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign leading to his eventual replacement by Kamala Harris. President Joe Biden’s re-election run suffered from questions and speculation about his age and related mental fitness that culminated in his decision to drop out of the race on July 21, 2024.
At the same time, memes related to Vice President Kamala Harris increased her popularity and helped prime her to become the presumptive Democratic nominee in Biden’s place. Following Biden's decision to step aside, these joke genres as well as some from the past are being mixed and made to reference each other in a meme mishmash.
It’s Joever
The phrase “It’s Joever, We’re So Barack” uses the first names of Biden and former President Barack Obama to reference Biden’s struggling poll numbers and the hope of some that his association with his younger counterpart would help him rebound. Each part is a play on the expressions “it’s over” and “we’re so back.”
The meme first appeared during Biden’s original presidential run in 2020 and reappeared in 2024 following his painful debate performance against rival Donald Trump. Its resurgence helped pave the way for Biden Harris dropout memes.
Coconut tree memes, the context of all in which you live and what came before you, and what can be, unburdened by what has been
Kamala Harris, once dogged by her reputation as a “tough on crime” prosecutor and California Attorney General, began to gain popularity as Vice President thanks to her sometimes lofty speech. Quotes and references from her speech became memes, especially the one in which she told a story about something her mother used to say.
“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?’” she said in 2023. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
Soon enough, the coconut tree and the coconut itself became symbols for Harris. In July 2024, fans began to use coconut emojis in their social media handles to signal their support for her, especially after Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
Kamala Harris cop meme
Memes depicting Harris as a police officer from 2019 saw a resurgence in 2024 after she took Biden’s place as the Democratic presidential candidate, becoming a key part of the Biden Harris dropout memes genre.
Although many leftists are still critical of Harris for calling herself a “top cop” to promote her 2020 campaign, the context of the times may have turned that reputation from a liability to an asset. Harris fans are promoting and encouraging these “Kopmala” memes to contrast her with Donald Trump of the 34 felony convictions.
Biden dropout letter meme
On July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden posted an official letter to the American public announcing that he was dropping out of his re-election campaign. He did not name a specific reason for this decision, but he did name Harris in the letter, thanking her for her help as his vice president.
Naturally, social media users took the letter and Photoshopped it to say any funny thing they wanted to, as is common when an important public figure offers up anything that can be used as a blank slate.
We did it Joe
Returning once again to 2020, no matter how much you might not want to, the “we did it, Joe” meme shows a screenshot of a video Harris posted to her Twitter account calling Biden to happily remind him of his victory against Trump.
The shot became an exploitable image used to make fun of the Biden administration for both failures and unpopular policy decisions. It was also subject to lip-sync parodies in many TikTok videos from late 2020 and beyond.
Joe Biden “I’m sick” meme
On July 17, 2024, Biden confirmed his reported COVID-19 diagnosis by sending out a misleading tweet reading “I’m sick,” which was immediately followed by “of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election” plus an invitation for supporters to donate to his campaign.
Similarly to the dropout letter meme, Twitter users began taking these tweets and Photoshopping the second one to make funnier statements. Alternatively, it was quote-tweeted with “me when” statements or fake images of Biden doing something cool. Coming so close to the announcement that Biden would end his 2024 campaign, this gag fits easily into the category of Biden Harris dropout memes.
Kamala picking a running mate
Once it was formally announced that Harris would be the Democratic pick as Biden's replacement, people began to wonder who would become her running mate. Because Harris is biracial, being both Black and Indian and not white at all, many speculated that she would attempt to appeal to white folks by picking a vice president they could relate to, much like Obama did in 2016.
This led to a meme in which social media users would post photos of white wine selections or menus, or that one image of the guy saying "this is a white," with captions reading something close to "Kamala picking a running mate."
Related memes:
- ‘It’s actually so over:’ The face that became the Joe Biden debate meme
- The best Joe Biden memes that stand the test of time
- Viral trend turns Kamala Harris’s coconut tree meme into the song of the summer
- Is Kamala Harris’ ‘coconut tree’ video the Biden admin’s most iconic meme?
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