Weird, brat and childless cat ladies: a guide to the language of the US presidential campaign so far
The language used in the US election campaign so far has provided an interesting glimpse into the zeitgeist.
If a week is a long time in politics, the last month or so in US politics has packed in enough events for an entire year.
Former president Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential candidate; President Joe Biden’s poor performance in a televised debate led to pressure to withdraw from the election; Trump survived an assassination attempt; and Vice-President Kamala Harris emerged as the uncontested nominee on the Democratic ticket selecting the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, as her running mate.
As these events have unfolded, certain words have shaped the political zeitgeist across media and social media. So far, coconut trees, brat, weird, and vibes have all featured prominently. The Democrats have also talked of joy, freedom, and emerging campaign slogans have included when we fight, we win and we’re not going back.
The Republicans have struggled to land their message, thanks to Trump’s lack of discipline (#Trumpmeltdown) and his preoccupation with crowd sizes. However, Vance has contributed to the discussion with mentions of childless cat ladies and stolen valor. (There are also more racist and misogynist things being said about Kamala Harris which I won’t give oxygen to here.)
Weird and the White House
Probably the word of the campaign so far has been weird. It was initially used by Walz – before he was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate – in television interviews to describe the politics of the Republicans, especially MAGA.
Walz argued that he was focusing less on the existential threat to democracy posed by Trump and more on capturing the way he, Vance and others (and their views of the world) were “not normal”. It aimed to rob them of some of their power. Use of the word quickly took off, especially on social media, where examples of right-wing weirdness were not hard to find.
Weird has its origins in an Old English noun meaning “the principle, power, or agency by which events are predetermined; fate, destiny” (Oxford English Dictionary).
The shift to attributive and then adjectival use was assisted by Shakespeare, famously through his ‘weyard sisters’ in Macbeth. There was still a strong connection to someone who had the power to control the fate and destiny of others.
The shift to using weird to mean something or someone eccentric or odd happened in the 19th century. It has largely remained a colloquial word since then. While not particularly insulting, it does usually carry some connotation of the person/thing described as being perplexing and hard to explain. The use of nouns such as weirdo and weirdie are more derogatory.
Weird certainly worked for Walz: he got offered the job of vice-president nominee. Vance and Trump have both tried unsuccessfully to turn the weird label around and use it against their opponents.
Existing in the context of Brat summer
Harris’s campaign has also notably been associated with coconut trees and brat, with both terms requiring some explanation.
At an event in 2023, Harris shared a quote from her own mother: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” She went on to explain: “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you”.
The clip quickly became a meme, with images of coconut trees and the word context used as shorthand references. Brat also became associated with Harris through social media. The term can be linked to Charli XCX’s latest album of the same name. The popstar is the pioneer of the trending lifestyle of brat, which involves excess, partying, serving, and being unapologetically yourself and somewhat ‘messy’ in life.
When XCX tweeted “kamala IS brat,” the Harris campaign’s social accounts adopted the lime green colour of the album cover. TikTok videos of Harris featuring the driving beats of XCX’s music, remixed with her coconut meme went viral.
XCX’s empowering spin on the word brat – used adjectivally rather than as a noun – and Harris’s enthusiastic take up of the trend, have created a campaign young people, particularly women, want to hit play on.
Cattiness and cat ladies
When Harris was first seen to be the presumptive Democratic candidate, Republicans attacked her as a DEI hire – someone who only got the job on the grounds of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’. This was the ‘polite’ version of the racist and misogynist attacks online and elsewhere.
Walz, who served 24 years in the National Guard but did not deploy to a combat zone, has also had his military record challenged, with some accusing him of stolen valour. This term describes what someone has done if they claim war service when they haven’t served in war. This particular attack on his record has been described as an example of swiftboating, a word that originated in the 2004 presidential race, when John Kerry’s military service in Vietnam was smeared with lies.
Vance’s own past came back to haunt him after his comments about childless cat ladies running the world resurfaced online. In a 2021 interview, Vance claimed that the Biden administration was “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives … they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
While cat lady has a history of being a derogatory term aimed at older, childless, and often unmarried women, a movement of ‘childless cat ladies for Kamala Harris’ quickly came together and reclaimed the label.
Commentators have suggested that this is an election campaign of vibes, with the vibe in Harris’ favour so far.
But a week is a long time in politics …
Top image: Kamala Harris delivers a campaign speech. Photo: Sir David/shutterstock.com
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