Brat Summer for Kamala Harris? Meme Coin Traders Are Onboard

Shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris was endorsed by Joe Biden to be the Democratic presidential nominee on Sunday, she received what's being hailed as a culturally relevant endorsement from pop star Charli XCX.

Somehow, this also prompted a resurgence of a dead meme coin, which promptly skyrocketed to a market cap of $5 million.

“Kamala IS brat,” the British artist posted on Twitter, in reference to her latest album “Brat,” which had already garnered a cult following and inspired countless think pieces ahead of the apparent Harris nod.

This sparked the beginning of a campaign that is capturing the attention of young voters. The Harris HQ Twitter and Instagram account changed its graphics to resemble the Brat album cover, and started using Charli XCX songs in her TikTok videos. The Harris HQ Twitter account doubled in followers overnight amid the surging hype.

Solana token Brat Summer (BRAT) was created via meme coin platform Pump.fun on July 17, prior to Harris’ campaign embracing the meme. Instead, the coin’s creator was apparently focused solely on the meme stemming from Charli XCX’s album and the “Brat summer” trend that has followed.

Charli XCX has pushed the concept of a “Brat summer” alongside the launch of her critically acclaimed album. In a BBC Sounds interview, Charli said that a “Brat summer” is both luxurious and trashy at the same time.

“That girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown,” Charli XCX said in a TikTok explaining the meaning behind “Brat.”

In essence, having a “Brat summer” means letting your hair down, maybe getting a little too drunk, and wearing a lot of neon green—in reference to Brat’s album cover. And Charli XCX apparently sees Harris, the younger and feistier VP taking the place of Joe Biden in an attempt to keep Democrats in the White House, as perpetrating that vibe in some manner.

Despite the meme taking off in pop culture, the token saw no immediate success and the project appeared to be dead. It failed to make it to decentralized exchange (DEX) Raydium, which is achieved when a token on Pump.fun hits a market cap of roughly $60,000. Some investors believe that the dev abandoned the project.

Hours before Charli XCX’s tweet, a community takeover—in which traders attempt to collectively steer the abandoned project, including with a fresh Twitter, Telegram, and website—managed to give the project some momentum, soon pushing it onto Raydium.

When Charli XCX tweeted the Kamala Harris praise, the token soared from a measly $5,000 market cap to a market cap of $105,000. Once Harris embraced the meme, the token then skyrocketed to a market cap just shy of $5 million over the next two days. It has since dropped to a market cap of $2.6 million.

Meme coins are highly volatile assets that often have an extremely low lifespan—particularly relatively low-market-cap tokens such as BRAT. They’re also often the subject of pump-and-dump schemes from developers, and limited liquidity can make it difficult to exit positions when prices fall. Thus, it's important to take care when investing in coins like this.

Now, the community takeover of BRAT symbolizes both the original “Brat summer” meme as well as its recent revival through Harris’ campaign. Its Twitter account reposts Harris Brat edits as well as other, non-political Brat-themed content.

Harris’ embrace of the Brat meme has inspired additional enthusiasm around her campaign and apparently pumped the meme coin. But not everyone is onboard, which is hardly surprising considering the already divisive rhetoric around the election.

American conservative commentator Greg Gutfeld called Harris “an unserious person” on Fox News, before going on to ask, “Do you really want brats to run this country? They already do enough damage.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward