Confused Jake Tapper Struggles to Understand 'Kamala Is Brat' Meaning After VP Harris' Campaign Leans Into Charli XCX's Album
Jake Tapper is having trouble keeping up with younger generations.
During the Monday night, July 22, broadcast of The Lead on CNN, the famed news anchor struggled to understand the latest social media trend of positively calling people "brat" after Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign leaned into the viral word, which caught attention upon the release of Charli XCX's latest album under the same name.
The discussion was prompted by Tapper, 55, revealing he was "tipped off" about the trending term by a reliable source: his 16-year-old daughter.
Charli XCX, 31 — who released her album Brat back in June — sparked the social media craze on Sunday, July 21, when she tweeted: "Kamala IS brat."
The pop star's post seemed to be an endorsement of Harris, 59, who recently launched her 2024 presidential campaign after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped out of the race.
It additionally served as proof of approval for Harris' headquarters to use the same font and bright chartreuse color aesthetic as Charli XCX's Brat album for their campaign.
"Kamala Harris appears to be leaning into this," Tapper noted during the primetime news show, explaining how Harris "branded her Kamala HQ Twitter page with the same 'aesthetic' of the album — that’s another Gen Z word, 'aesthetic.'"
Unable to clarify any further, Tapper asked his co-anchor Jamie Gangel, 69, to attempt defining the word.
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Gangel joked her younger producer would probably "spit out her coffee" as she heard the broadcast journalist try to explain the term, but went on to detail: "For those of you who are not in the know the way I am, [brat] is a cool thing."
Luckily, Gangel also found Charli XCX's own definition of the word in her notes.
"You are just that girl, who is a little messy, and likes to party and maybe says dumb things sometimes," the singer said via TikTok last month.
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"So, is the idea that we’re all kind of ‘brat,’ and Vice President Harris is ‘brat?’ I don’t know," Tapper guessed, still visibly confused.
"I don’t know if you’re 'brat,'" fellow panelist Kaitlan Collins, 32, informed Tapper. "I think you aspire to be 'brat.' You don't just become 'brat.'"
"I will aspire to be 'brat,'" Tapper promised.
"The point is that [Harris] is — whether it’s her or some very clever people who work for her — going right for them in a language of their own that, apparently, nobody at this table speaks," Tapper concluded in reference to the younger generation of voters.