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Whitney Meldrum-Hanna

The campaign controlling the memes shapes the reality of the election

While Republican Donald Trump remains the undisputed king of mass media co-option, Democrat Kamala Harris is fast mastering memetic warfare.

Whitney Meldrum-HannaStrategic advisor

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The 2024 US presidential race is proving that in modern politics, the most powerful weapon isn’t policy proposals or rousing speeches – it’s memes.

In recent weeks, two seemingly unrelated events collided: Kamala Harris launched her presidential bid and pop star Charli XCX had her long-awaited breakout moment with her album Brat. Normally, a pop star’s new release has nothing to do with a presidential campaign, but 2024 isn’t normal.

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Whitney Meldrum-Hanna is a brand strategist and former Head of Creative Strategy at Pedestrian Group.

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/the-campaign-controlling-the-memes-shapes-the-reality-of-the-election-20240819-p5k3fq