The question "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" was raised by United States Vice President
Kamala Harris during remarks delivered at a May 2023
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
ceremony. While footage from her speech attracted attention as an
Internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
in early 2024, the quote began circulating more widely amidst speculation that President
Joe Biden would end his re-election campaign following a
poor debate performance in June. Use of "
coconut tree
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
" memes referring to Harris expanded widely in July alongside the launch of
her 2024 presidential campaign.
Remarks
Harris and Secretary of Education
Miguel Cardona attended a May 10, 2023,
swearing-in
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
ceremony for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics (a
Hispanic and Latino education initiative) in the
Indian Treaty Room of the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Addressing the new commissioners, Harris advised that work to achieve
educational equity requires not only mustering financial resources but also addressing the cultural context that isolates students from their communities. Referring to a saying from her late mother
Shyamala Gopalan
Gopalan Shyamala (December 7, 1938 – February 11, 2009) was a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast biolog ...
, Harris said:
Part of the extension of the work you will do is, yes, focused on our young leaders and our young people, but understanding we also then have to be clear about the needs of their parents and their grandparents and their teachers and their communities, because none of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context.
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
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
?" (Laughs.)
You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.
Use online
Footage from the speech attracted attention beginning February 2024. Initial social media activity about the remarks, including by
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, mocked them as incomprehensible or ludicrous.
As speculation about Harris replacing Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket intensified in June 2024, the video was shared largely by her supporters, including members of the #
KHive
#KHive is the hashtag used by an informal online community supporting Kamala Harris, the 49th Vice President of the United States. The hashtag is also a term which is always pronounced and occasionally transcribed as K-Hive, and refers to the w ...
online community. The term "coconut-pilled", parodying the
redpilled
The terms "red pill" and "blue pill" refer to a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill. The terms are associated with ...
men's rights phenomenon, indicated support for a Harris candidacy among Democratic operatives.
It began circulating more widely in June, after a
poorly received debate performance by President Biden led to speculation that he might withdraw from his re-election campaign.
After Biden's July 21 announcement that he would not seek re-election, supporters of Harris created memes and videos referencing coconuts and coconut trees as a sign of support for her bid for the nomination.
Coconuts and coconut trees have become integrated in a larger series of memes celebrating Harris's candidacy, including her once-professed love of
Venn diagram
A Venn diagram is a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between set (mathematics), sets, popularized by John Venn (1834–1923) in the 1880s. The diagrams are used to teach elementary set theory, and to illustrate simple ...
s, the
Charli XCX album
''Brat'', and Harris's often-employed phrase "
what can be, unburdened by what has been
Kamala Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021, under President Joe Biden. Harris is also the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2024 United States presidential e ...
."
In these memes, to "fall out of a coconut tree" typically means that one lacks awareness of one's surroundings, akin to the phrase "
living under a rock".
''The New York Times'' reported that enthusiasm for Harris and the coconut tree meme was driving a
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
-area surge in demand for
piña coladas.
By elected officials
Biden's
decision to drop out of the race and his subsequent endorsement of Harris as the
party nominee led to intensified use of the "coconut tree"
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
in reference to Harris, including by state and federal officials.
Minutes after Biden's announcement,
Colorado governor
The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...
Jared Polis tweeted emoji of a coconut, palm tree and American flag. Later that evening, U.S. Senator
Brian Schatz
Brian Emanuel Schatz (; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Schatz served in the Hawaii House o ...
of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
posted a picture of himself climbing a coconut tree along with a message of support.
On July 22, after
Illinois Governor
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...
JB Pritzker
Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family, which owns the worldwide h ...
endorsed Harris, he responded to journalists speculating about his own presidential ambitions by tweeting, "You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?"
When the
Biden campaign Twitter account transitioned to "Kamala HQ" on July 21, the updated profile bio simply read "Providing context", a reference to the remarks.
Reception
Commentators noted that use of the coconut tree meme to depict Harris as
ditzy may be grounded in
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
or in racist mockery of her
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and
Jamaican heritage, given the tropical symbolism of the coconut tree.
But as supporters began championing the video,
''Washington Post'' columnist
Monica Hesse
Monica Hesse is a national bestselling author from Normal, Illinois. She is the recipient of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery for her book ''Girl in the Blue Coat'', and the Society for Feature Journalism's Narrative Storytelling awar ...
identified that it could aid depictions of the candidate as youthful and
feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
, in contrast both to Biden and Republican nominee and former president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
.
Some Democratic strategists also noted that the coconut tree meme and others were driving augmented enthusiasm for Harris among members of
Generation Z
Generation Z (or more commonly Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular me ...
, which could potentially translate into an increase in youth
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
.
Media scholar David Karpf told
''Business Insider'' that the Harris campaign's encouragement of internet memes could foster an organic sense of
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
enthusiasm akin to reception of the
Obama 2008 campaign.
''Vox''s Christian Paz speculated that leaning into a goofy attitude could help Harris channel a "joyful warrior" ethos that combats sexist and racist stereotypes.
According to
Digital Cultures Lab founder
Ramesh Srinivasan
Ramesh Srinivasan (born 1976) is a professor of Information Studies.
Professional life
Ramesh Srinivasan is an associate professor of Information Studies in the GSEIS, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies Graduate Program at the ...
, Harris's cultural link to coconuts is an authentic expression of her heritage, because Gopalan, her mother, was born in the state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, where coconut trees are an important source of food and
cooking oil
Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and may be called edible oil. ...
. Harris, Srinivasan told the
''Los Angeles Times'', is "fully coconut".
See also
*
We did it, Joe!
"We did it, Joe!" is a viral video in which Kamala Harris, moments after learning she and Joe Biden had won the 2020 United States presidential election, calls Biden to congratulate him on their victory. The quote "We did it, Joe!" became a me ...
*
What can be, unburdened by what has been
Kamala Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021, under President Joe Biden. Harris is also the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2024 United States presidential e ...
References
{{Kamala Harris, state=collapsed
Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign
Viral videos
Political quotes
Political Internet memes
Internet memes introduced in 2024
Biden administration controversies
Articles containing video clips
Coconuts
Trees in culture
Speeches by Democratic Party (United States) politicians
2023 speeches
2023 quotations
History of the White House
2023 in American politics
2023 in Washington, D.C.
African-American history of Washington, D.C.
Indian-American history