What this means, exactly, remains to be determined.
Photo: Ben Jacobs
There are affinity groups of every kind at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There are events for Black Democrats, Hispanic Democrats, Asian American Democrats, and LGBTQ+ Democrats; pro-union and business-friendly events, pro-Israel events and, outside, anti-Israel events. Until Tuesday night, though, there was not an event for the “Kamala is brat” set, at least until the “Hotties for Harris” party started.
Content creators and influencers gathered in a warehouse about halfway between the United Center and the heart of downtown where they danced under flashing GIFs of Kamala Harris dancing. Arrayed all around were memes about the Democratic ticket, all focused on abortion rights: free condoms emblazoned with messages like “Fuck Project 2025,” signs with slogans like “Trump Vance Sex Ends” and “Tim Waltz Got Me Laid.”
In a nod to Tim Walz’s famous attack line on Republicans, there was a “a Wall of Weirdos” including villains like Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Amy Coney Barrett, Larry Kudlow, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, intermingled with anti-abortion quotes from various Republicans. Another wall featured progressive heroes that included what seemed to be AI-generated images of Harris, Walz, Ariana Grande, Nancy Pelosi, and Jason Kelce. In case none of this was appealing, there were also Skee-Ball machines and the opportunity to play “Feminist Mini Golf.”
One of the many signs/memes at the party.
Liz Plank, a prominent progressive content creator and one of the hosts of the party, said the event came together only about ten days ago and was an attempt to harness “all the energy and vibes online” around Harris. While she thought she still would have “planned something big and edgy” with Joe Biden as the nominee, it wouldn’t have the same energy. “Biden isn’t brat and he isn’t pretending he wanted to be,” she said.
The heavy focus on reproductive rights would have been slightly more jarring, too.
“Biden still doesn’t want to say the word ‘abortion,’” Plank continued. After all, it wouldn’t have been entirely on brand to celebrate a teetotaling devout Catholic with a late-night party where free Plan B was being handed out.
But to imagine the Hotties for Biden would require creators to be “unburdened by what has been” in the past two months of American politics. Instead, the partying zoomers just took selfies and sipped coconut-tree-themed cocktails in “the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
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