The Kamala Harris ‘Coconut Tree’ Meme, Explained: The Story Behind the Viral Trend

After Vice President Kamala Harris declared her intention to run for president, her supporters began to post emojis of coconuts and trees on social media

Kamala Harris has the Internet raining coconuts. Why?

On May 10, 2023, the vice president delivered a speech at the White House in which she spoke about advancing opportunities for Hispanic individuals and investing in the lives of not only young people but also their elders and the larger community.

"Because none of us just live in a silo.  Everything is in context," she explained in the speech.

With a chuckle, Harris, 59, continued, "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?' "

Then after a beat, she added in a more solemn tone, "You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you."

Following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday, July 21 that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Harris for the Democratic ticket, supporters — known as the KHive — began to post emojis of coconuts and trees on social media.

Colorado governor Jared Polis shared a post with the emojis, along with an American flag, and organizations like Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Emilys List added the two symbols to their username. Brian Schatz, a senator from Hawaii, hopped on the meme by posting a photo of himself climbing a coconut tree, with the supportive caption, "Madam Vice President, we are ready to help."

Shortly after endorsing Harris, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is a rumored candidate to be her running mate, responded to speculation about his political future by writing, "You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?"

The clip has steadily built traction on various social media platforms. In February, one social media user shared a clip of the quote with the caption, “this video is literally like medicine to me. i watch it once every week or two and every time i do i get an enduring hit of light euphoria for the next 45 minutes."

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Memeing the president's recent COVID-19 diagnosis, PR exec Ryan Aguirre posted an edited photo of an at-home test with a coconut and a tree graphic on the control and positive test results. "Biden’s COVID Test," he wrote in the caption of the post, which now has over 47K likes.

More recently, the meme has evolved to embrace other internet trends with one viral post edited to match Charli XCX’s Brat Summer branding.

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Even the popular internet meme database Know Your Meme has recognized the moment’s virability and commemorated the one-year anniversary of the speech in May. Sharing a video of Harris speaking the phrase, they wrote, “On this day one year ago, Vice President Kamala Harris said, 'You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?' "

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