It's 2024, and CNN still appears incapable of accurately reporting on the pop culture trends that resonate with Americans under the age of 35. Yesterday on his show The Lead with Jake Tapper, the 55-year-old anchor bungled an explanation of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris's adoption of memes popularized by young adults online.
He began by steering the conversation towards what he called the Kamala Harris campaign's "appeal to Gen Z." He began, "Singer Charli XCX tweeted last night 'Kamala IS brat.' This is in reference to her album, it's called 'Brat.'" So far, so good.
Then the first signs of trouble appear. "Kamala has branded her Kamala HQ twitter page with the same aesthetic of the album," he says, adding "It's another Gen Z word, aesthetic." Unfortunately, "aesthetic" is not a Gen Z word but, simply, a word.
Then, for more information on this "Gen Z" phenomenon, Tapper turns to 69-year-old special correspondent Jamie Gangel. By her own admission, Gangel is not the right person for the job. And yet she stumbles on, noting "First of all — just for my producer, Elizabeth Stuart, who will spit out her coffee as I say this — I am supposed to say 'That's brat.'" She adds with knowing sarcasm "And, for those who are not in the know the way I am, [brat] is a cool thing."
As Gangel continues, she holds up a physical print out of the Kamala HQ Twitter page. "It has a color — chartreuse is the color — and Kamala Harris has adopted that for whatever social media page that is." She says the last bit while looking at the piece of paper and shaking her head.
Then Gangel puts on her reading glasses to recite a quote off her phone that is written in a font so large and bold that it is legible on camera during an over-the-shoulder shot. It's Charli XCX's definition of a brat: "You're just that girl who is a little messy, and likes to party, and maybe says some dumb things some times."
Tapper, as expected, is confused. "Is the idea that we're all kind of brat?" he asks the table. "And Vice President Harris is brat?"
It is at this moment that 32-year-old Kaitlan Collins, the youngest person in the room, is finally able to chime in with the facts. "I don't now if you're brat," she tells Tapper (and she is right). "You aspire to be brat, you don't just become brat. You have to try."
Collins articulates the essence of brat-core: it's just something you are, an enviable intangible. As a compliment, it invokes the same je ne sais quoi as the it-girl, though a brat may have an even more unapologetic or provocative approach to life.
Despite this, Tapper dismisses Collins. "The point is that [Harris], or some very clever people that work for her, is going right for [Gen Z] in a language of their own that apparently no one at this table speaks." When Kaitlin throws up a hand in protest, Tapper says flippantly "Except for you because you think you're 23. You're a millennial, take it easy."
The irony is that, while much of Charli XCX's "brat" culture is popular amongst Gen Z, it is crafted in large part by millennial women and gay men. Charli XCX, at 31-years-old, is a millennial herself, and has been making music for her peers since 2013.
It's really easy to brush off CNN's brief, clownish coverage of America's political youth culture as a silly bit. But the reality is that Gen Z could be kingmakers in this election. NBC exit polls from the 2020 election suggested that 65 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 — an age group almost entirely made of Gen Zers — voted for President Joe Biden. That was 11 percent more than any other age group. Since then, the support of Gen Z and millennial voters had become consistently elusive to the President.
Now, with millennial Republican Vice President nominee J.D. Vance in the mix, that constituency may be more in play than ever before. And Kamala Harris may be able to win these voters back by speaking to them — as Tapper put it — in their language. Engaging with a hugely popular and relatively harmless meme is an easy first step to revitalizing a youth voter base that has been underwhelmed by Biden.
CNN could take a page from her book by bringing on journalists who understand and respect the constituents they're reporting on. Because while gray-haired pundits on CNN may not understand how to connect with millennial and Gen Z voters, the Harris campaign certainly does. And it may be what wins them the election.
