OK, Here’s Why Your Entire Feed Is Joking About Coconut Trees Right Now

It’s not just a growing sect of top Democrats—the chronically online left wants Biden out, and they are only semi-ironically embracing Vice President Kamala Harris and all her quirks and lore to succeed him.

By Kylie Cheung  |  July 3, 2024 | 12:03pm
Photos: Getty Images/pngtree.com/Twitter @ohJuliatweets Politics
OK, Here’s Why Your Entire Feed Is Joking About Coconut Trees Right Now

Each day, we continue to live through unprecedented times (read: an unending season of Veep), but Tuesday somehow felt especially unprecedented. In the wake of what’s been recognized as a disastrous, potentially presidential bid-ending debate performance, President Biden is facing mounting pressure to step down from the ticket. On Wednesday, a report from the New York Times even claimed he is “seriously considering” whether to continue in the race, with the party convention just weeks away.

Before that, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first Democrat in Congress to tell him to step down on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi called his presidential fitness a legitimate question, and, according to CNN, more than two dozen current and former Democratic officials, donors, and longtime Biden allies want him out, as well. That’s all to say, the onslaught of memes embracing Vice President Kamala Harris to top the ticket didn’t fall out of a coconut tree—they exist in the context of all in which we live and what came before us.

OK, let me back up. In tandem with the minute-by-minute updates about how concerned top Democrats are with Biden and his tanking poll numbers, you’re probably seeing a lot about Harris right now. Namely, in addition to the iconic 2019 video of her singing “Wheels on the Bus” in a random, wholly made-up melody, you’re probably seeing, err, references to her now-famous May 2023 remarks that go something like this: 

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?” (Laughs.)

You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

So, that’s… the context in which you are probably seeing posts like these right now:

There’s definitely a frenetic energy surrounding the Biden White House today, as we await updates on just how seriously (or not seriously?) his campaign is taking the growing push for him to step aside. The official line remains that he’s the Democratic Party nominee. But at the same time, we have Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)—Biden-Harris campaign co-chair—telling MSNBC he “will support” Harris if Biden “were to step aside,” and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Summer Lee (D-PA) suggesting something could happen, and would happen very quickly. “If our president decides this is not a pathway forward for him, we have to move very quickly. There’s not going to be time for a primary. That time is past. The vice president is the obvious choice,” Lee said. “She’s sitting right there. She’s already been in the White House.” Indeed, much can be said of Harris—but it simply can’t be said that she or her potential presidential bid fell out of a coconut tree.

My unsolicited two cents is that clearly none of what’s happening is ideal but, as many have pointed out, the vice president is the de facto backup nominee. And if Biden’s replaced by Harris, it’s likely the race would immediately shift to Roe v. Wade—Trump’s weakest issue, and the one that Harris has been leading on—instead of whether Biden has dementia. Beleaguered by crimes and scandals, the Trump team’s only real lines of attack thus far have been Biden’s age and Hunter Biden’s, err, antics. With Harris at the top of the ticket, the Trump campaign would have to come up with a new strategy quickly.

I can’t stress enough how hypothetical all of this is right now. In the meantime, as we weigh whether a President Harris is possible, major questions loom: Has this administration adequately set her up for success or to be sufficiently perceived as a leader? Who would be her running-mate, and would it be a certain, beloved midwest governor? Would we be treated to a D.C. presidential monument that reads, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Does anyone have eyes on Hillary Clinton at this moment??? For now, all we can do is sit back, live through what might just be #Herstory, and consume some more coconut tree memes.

 
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