Election Day is over, but the real work to fight for our rights, beliefs, and freedoms, is only just beginning. But even with so much work ahead, it’s important to take a beat and look back on everything the country just had to go through. I know it was hard to keep up with everything that happened this election cycle — because, TBH, a lot of incredibly wild stuff went down.
For starters, it was the first time the majority of Gen Z was eligible to vote in a U.S. election, with a record-breaking 34% of newly registered voters in 2024 being just 18 years old, according to Vote.org. Also, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign marked the first time a Black and South Asian woman ran as the presidential candidate for a major political party. Furthermore, Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump was the first convicted felon to run for president as a major political party candidate.
But this election season also came with a ton of unseriousness — way too much, depending who you ask. I don’t know about everyone else, but some of the things that happened this election were not on my election bingo card. And of course, social media was there to make sure it was all captured for the history books. Here are 10 viral moments from the 2024 presidential election that won’t soon be forgotten.
Kamala is Brat
kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024
Let’s start off with an election moment that really set the tone with how unserious this election cycle would be: Following President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race and Harris taking his place, Charli XCX took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote “Kamala is Brat,” as a way to show support for the candidate. Following that, the official Kamala HQ social media pages changed its profile photos to match the Brat album aesthetic. Not only was this an iconic moment in election history, but it also was the beginning of all the Harris “brat” memes that followed.
Childless Cat Ladies
In 2021, JD Vance went on Fox News and commented on female Democratic politicians, saying “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” This sour moment resurfaced once Trump named Vance his VP pick, and then it turned fully iconic following Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris, in which she ended her statement by calling herself a childless cat lady.
“They’re eating the dogs.”
During the debate between Trump and Harris on Sept. 10, Trump brought up false claims about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, consuming people’s pets. Trump said, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating pets.” This comment was certainly hurtful to immigrant communities, but many people also found it so absurd as to be funny. The moment was remixed and turned into a TikTok sound that captures this ridiculous comment.
RFK Jr.’s Brain Worm
When independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that he’d had a parasitic worm in his brain, people truly lost it. In May, he told the New York Times that he experienced a number of health issues in recent years, caused by a worm that entered his brain and later died. This raised a lot of questions when it came to this candidate’s health and overall ability to run the country. In a bold move, RFK Jr. leaned into the hype, writing on X in May, “I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate.” But, this was short lived, as RFK Jr. suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump.
Tim Walz’s Turkey Corn Dog
My daughter, Hope, tricked me into doing the most extreme ride at the Minnesota State Fair. pic.twitter.com/YeMEocwJRv
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) September 4, 2023
The announcement of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the running mate for Kamala Harris started an influx of resurfaced videos that helped voters get a feel for who Walz really is. Besides being a former teacher, Walz might be best known for having major dad energy, as evidenced by a resurfaced video of Walz with his daughter, Hope, at the Minnesota state fair in 2023. In the video, Walz asks Hope if she wants a corn dog, to which Hope says, “I’m a vegetarian.” Walz replies with, “Turkey, then?” which Hope says is still meat. This moment gave everyone a glimpse of Tim Walz’s personality — which is clearly full of dad jokes.
Kamala’s Coconut Tree
This next viral moment became the unofficial mascot of the Harris campaign. During a speech in May 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris included a quote from her mother that said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” The coconut tree clip resurfaced after Harris announced her race for presidency. Since then, it made its rounds on TikTok with a ton of remixes and memes.
Elon Musk dancing at a Trump rally
On Oct. 5, Trump held a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he was joined by billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk. Musk was called on to the stage by Trump, where he rejoiced and jumped around on stage to express how happy he was to be there.This moment showed the tight relationship between Musk and Trump, and it inspired many, many memes.
JD Vance’s donut shop visit
JD Vance buys donuts in Holt’s Sweet Shop in Valdosta Georgia pic.twitter.com/xOO2j3AoRf
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 22, 2024
On Aug. 22, Vance visited Holt’s Sweet Shop in Valdosta, Georgia, where he spoke with an employee of the shop who didn’t really seem interested in the interaction. The employee asked to not be on camera at all, to which Vance replied, “Just cut that out, she doesn’t wanna be on camera.” The whole thing was just incredibly awkward.
The DNC’s Lack of Surprise Guest
to whoever started the Beyoncé as dnc special guest rumour pic.twitter.com/y59dLZziZZ
— T (@teewatterss) August 23, 2024
The Democratic National Convention, which was held Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago, had a number of celeb speakers, including former president Barack Obama and actress Kerry Washington. But after a last-minute schedule change, people speculated that there would be a *really* special guest speaker at the event. The biggest guess? Beyoncé But, spoiler alert, there was no special guest after all.
Trump’s Ear Bandage
Last but certainly not least: Trump’s ear bandage. Following the assassination attempt of Trump at his Pennsylvania rally in July, Trump was seen sporting white bandage on the ear where a bullet grazed him. To show their support, Trump supporters accessorized with their own bandages at the Republican National Convention.