A peculiar quote by Vice President Kamala Harris—“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”—is going viral once more. This follows President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race after a challenging debate performance in June. Social media is now buzzing with coconut emojis and memes inspired by Harris’s quote, possibly as a genuine show of support for her or with a hint of irony.
But what does Harris' "coconut tree" quote mean, and why has it turned into a meme? Here's what you need to know.
What is the Kamala Harris 'coconut tree' meme?
Harris stated her “coconut tree” quote on May 10, 2023, at the White House while swearing in the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. She emphasized the importance of equity in education policy, noting that students' opportunities to succeed vary based on financial resources and their upbringing environments.
Harris stated, “none of us just live in a silo” and “everything is in context,” highlighting that achieving educational equity also involves supporting the needs of parents, grandparents, and communities. Near the end of her speech, she shared a personal anecdote: “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?’” Harris laughed and added, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
The quote likely resonated more than Harris' other statements from her numerous appearances because of the absurd imagery of falling out of a coconut tree. Additionally, her abrupt shift in tone from joking to completely serious when she said, "you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you," added to its impact.
It took nearly a year for the quote to gain traction online, with its 'memefication' coming in full force after Biden's poor performance in the June debate against former President Donald Trump. Following the debate, as some people online and some lawmakers began urging Biden to withdraw from the race, many pointed to Harris, already serving as vice president, as a suitable replacement.
According to Google Trends data, searches for the phrase "coconut tree," along with corresponding searches about the meme and other quotes from Harris, began to rise around June 28. This spike occurred just days after the Biden-Trump debate, as calls for Biden to withdraw from the race began to grow.
Social media embraces the 'coconut tree' meme
Supporters of Harris's potential candidacy have embraced the viral meme, dubbing it “Operation Coconut Tree.”
The “coconut tree” quote had already gone viral on social media, especially on TikTok, where thousands of users posted videos featuring Harris’s remarks as the audio. Users made jokes about the shift in Harris's tone from lighthearted to serious before and after the “coconut tree” sentence and how the quote seems nonsensical out of context. For example, one TikTok user joked, “How I feel putting my glasses on in the middle of a conversation,” donning glasses as Harris adopts a more serious tone after the “coconut tree” sentence.
Another user compared the quote to “when you and your friends are in bed after going out and you’re still drunk.” A different user humorously noted the clip sounds like “me and my friend having two separate conversations on two different apps at the same time.”
Chi Ossé, a Democratic member of the New York City Council, posted a video edit of Harris' clips on Wednesday, captioning it: “Coconut tree summer.”
The quote has also been used by Republicans and Harris’s detractors as a point of criticism. The GOP War Room YouTube account, which posts clips of Democratic politicians appearing to make gaffes, posted a video of Harris’s “coconut tree” quote on the day she made the remarks, which has since garnered more than 137,000 views.
Rapper Doja Cat even tweeted part of Harris’s quote last month.
Many users are using the meme to advocate for Harris, emphasizing that another candidate “can't just fall out of a coconut tree.”
Some Harris supporters have declared themselves “coconut-pilled,” using the coconut emoji in social media posts or their display names on X to show their support for the vice president.
Whether these social media posts were made ironically or genuinely supporting Harris as Biden's replacement in the presidential race, the number of memes referencing the "coconut tree" skyrocketed in 2024.
Here are some of the 'coconut tree' memes that have taken the internet by storm.
