In the days since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, all I’ve seen on my TikTok For You Page is Vice President Kamala Harris. There are the coconut tree videos, the Brat edits, and of course, the combination of the two.
There was one main account behind a lot of the Kamala craze we’ve seen in the last few days, and that was @KamalaHQ. The TikTok page has nearly 2 million followers and 25.8 million likes, and its Instagram account has nearly 400K followers.
So, when Harris created her own TikTok account (@KamalaHarris) on July 25, people began to question who actually runs Kamala HQ. (Is it like a Hannah Montana situation?) And, more importantly, what’s the difference between @KamalaHarris and @KamalaHQ? Let’s go over the basics — because these accounts didn’t just fall out of the coconut tree.
On July 25, Harris’ account made its first post, with a staffer asking if she was on TikTok.
“Well, I’ve heard that recently I’ve been on the For You Page, so I thought I’d get on here myself,” Harris said in the TikTok. That’s the whole post, confirming that she’s officially on TikTok. She made no reference to @KamalaHQ. However, one of the top comments is from Kamala HQ, saying “Welcome MVP.”
Who runs @kamalaHQ on TikTok?
While Harris’ official TikTok is brand-new, we know that the KamalaHQ TikTok has been making videos as far back as February, and its Instagram has nearly 2,000 posts. Clearly, these are both extremely established accounts that took a turn toward focusing on Harris after Biden officially dropped out of the presidential race. In fact, Kamala HQ was originally @BidenHQ, but the username changed after Biden stepped out and endorsed Harris’ presidential run. We still don’t know much about who is behind KamalaHQ — probably a social media team with the campaign — but I think we can all agree that they deserve a raise.
All we really know about KamalaHQ is that it’s possibly affiliated with Harris, with both its TikTok and Instagram bios simply stating “Providing context.” most likely in reference to Harris’ coconut tree lore. Its pinned Instagram post, which is also Brat-themed, says the account is “the official response page of vice president harris’ presidential campaign.” The caption was, “And when we put this to bed the internet will go crazy”
I know the point of the marketing strategy is to align with Gen Zers’ lack of capitalization and punctuation, but I don’t know if I really believe that the Vice President’s marketing campaign wouldn’t at least capitalize her name and title. But maybe that’s just me.
The Kamala HQ account posts mainly different edits of Harris along with her most recent campaign posts. However, the Instagram page has posted different messages claiming to be from the Harris campaign.
I can’t be the only person here who thinks it’s strange that her campaign Instagram would be filled with a combination of unserious memes or edits and very serious statements against Trump, right?
While the @KamalaHQ TikTok and Instagram accounts could be run by marketing geniuses who are clearly part of the Gen Z demographic (or have an excellent understanding of our humor), I think we can all agree that this isn’t the Vice President’s account.
Will I be going to Harris’ official TikTok and Instagram accounts for any news relating to her presidential campaign? Maybe. But who doesn’t love a fun Brat edit from KamalaHQ too?