window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)

What is Kamala Harris's 'brat' rebrand all about?

Lucy Clarke-Billings
BBC News
@KamalaHQ on X The banner on Kamala Harris's campaign  on the social media platform X@KamalaHQ on X

Kamala Harris has overhauled her campaign's online presence by embracing a social media trend inspired by pop star Charli XCX's Brat album cover.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has scattered references to the album across her campaign's , renaming her profile Kamala HQ.

Her rebrand comes as Charli showed her by tweeting "kamala IS brat" shortly after President Joe Biden announced he was stepping out of the race for the White House and endorsed his vice-president.

By Monday morning, Ms Harris had seized on Charli's backing - with the sporting a new lime green photo in the style of the Brat album cover.

Brat is the name of Charli's sixth studio album and her tweet about Vice-President Harris received almost nine million views in just four hours.

The album's artwork is a lime green square with the word brat written in the middle in a low resolution Arial font.

Charli told the BBC's Sidetracked podcast that brat is a concept that represents a person who might have "a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra".

It has been deemed by some pop critics as a rejection of the "clean girl" aesthetic popularised on TikTok, which spurned a groomed ideal of femininity, and instead embraces more hedonistic and rebellious attitudes.

“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times,” Charli explained on social media.

“Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”

Charli XCX photographed for BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Clara Amfo on Thursday 8th December 2022
Charli XCX says Kamala Harris is 'brat'

The #bratsummer trend has nearly one million posts on TikTok and the lime green theme has been used by thousands of individuals and businesses.

In recent weeks - as pressure to drop out of the race grew on President Biden following several public errors - ers of Ms Harris have been producing videos that combine clips of her speaking with songs from Charli's album.

One of the most recent viral videos shows Ms Harris telling a story about her mother during a White House event in 2023.

She said: "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">Republicans have won control of both chambers of Congress, yielding Trump limited congressional oversight for at least 2 years.

13 Nov 2024
US & Canada
Donald Trump and Joe Biden in Oval Office

‘Welcome back’ - Watch moment Biden congratulates Trump

The president and president-elect shook hands as part of a long-standing tradition signifying the transfer of power.

13 Nov 2024
US & Canada
Biden is on the left and Trump is on the right.

What we can expect from Trump and Biden's meeting

Given all the things they’ve said about each other, Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s meeting could be really awkward.

13 Nov 2024
US & Canada
John Bolton, former adviser to Donald Trump

'I think Putin believes that he knows how to play Trump' - John Bolton

'I think Putin believes that he knows how to play Trump', says Trump's former adviser John Bolton.

7 Nov 2024
Vladimir Putin speaking holding a pen

Putin congratulates 'courageous' Trump on election win

The Russian president says he was impressed by Trump's reaction to the first assassination attempt against him.

7 Nov 2024
World
Joe Biden wearing a suit holding up a fist

Watch: Biden urges Democrats to 'get back up' after Trump win

The president addressed Americans from the White House for the first time since Donald Trump's election victory.

7 Nov 2024
US & Canada