The Memeification Of Kamala Harris | Colbert Is Brat | Trump Struggles To Attack Harris

Introduction

Welcome welcome one and all to The Late Show! I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. I hope all of you have stretched out your hammies because it's a full-on sprint to the election. We have 104 days and we are not stopping until November 5th. So, grab a Gatorade and slap some Band-Aids on your nipples.

Biden dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris on Sunday, and by Tuesday, she had already secured enough delegate endorsements to win the Democratic presidential nomination. What's happening? What year is it? She became the presumptive nominee in 48 hours. To put that in perspective, it's been more than three years and we still don't have a new James Bond. By the way, Joe is available and looks good in a tux.

With the delegates squared away, the Democrats plan to hold a virtual nomination by August 7th. If this feels fast to Americans, remember, it just makes us more like other democracies. In the UK, campaigning lasts five to six weeks, and in France, campaigning can last no longer than two weeks. So, we're not rushing; we're just doing this election Euro-style. We can fill out the ballot with a baguette while sitting on those toilets with the butt fountain—I hear good things. I'm not sure if I would ever leave the house.

Democrats everywhere are feeling the excitement. Kamala Harris’ campaign broke a single-day fundraising record with 1.1 million individual donors, and 60% of these donors were making their first contribution to the 2024 cycle. Welcome to democracy, my friends. Your donation comes with a great reward: a thousand emails saying, 'Stephen, I’m asking one last time.'

The motivation is clear. Sunday night, Harris raised $ 1.5 million on a Zoom call with 44,000 black women. It was so heavily attended that organizers had to ask Zoom to extend the capacity limit for the meeting. Wait a second—you can just call Zoom and ask them to do stuff?

Last night, Harris paid a visit to campaign headquarters and got a call from a big supporter, Joe Biden. "Joe, I know you’re still on the call, and we’ve been talking every day," she said. "We love Joe and Jill, we really do. They truly are like family to us." It’s touching; he’s like an inspiring disembodied voice encouraging the next generation to defeat the dark side—he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Another reason for the excitement around Harris is that she already has a reputation as the meme candidate, thanks to viral speeches like this one: "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you." That shift in tone could be a preview of some very interesting presidential announcements.

The internet is exploding with coconut memes, and Kamala’s own website is getting in on it with an error message that reads, "This page exists in the context of all that came before it." The Harris fans on TikTok have also been remixing the coconut clip into songs by Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, and Beyoncé.

Speaking of Charli XCX, she tweeted "Kamala is brat," and Harris’ team responded by giving their official Twitter profile a brat theme. Many are now calling Kamala’s run the "brat campaign." If you’re confused about this brat thing, you're not alone—even CNN needed a definition.

Trump hates Biden dropping out and endorsing Harris because he doesn’t have a good line of attack against her. He tried out a nickname: "Laughing Kamala," which didn’t quite stick. Trump’s upset because deep down, he likes her. When she was running for California attorney general, Trump donated to her reelection campaign—$ 5,000.

We got a great show tonight. My guests are Matthew McConaughey and director Jon M. Chu. When we come back, I answer your kid questions for real. Stick around!