Just How Online Was This Election?
The New York Times
In the 2024 presidential race, both nominees exploited a porous boundary between the internet and real life. Some viral moments, however, were out of their control.
Perhaps more so than in any presidential election that has come before it, the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump has unfolded online.
(That’s saying something, considering the 2020 election, which took place during pandemic lockdowns, was almost entirely digital.)
From the moment in May when President Biden’s team announced it was looking to hire a meme manager, it was clear that campaigns were taking internet strategy seriously. But Mr. Biden struggled to break through online, and it wasn’t until Ms. Harris rose to the top of the ticket that nominees for both parties began to wield their influence there.
Images went viral. Online personalities and influencers took center stage (especially as Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump at times avoided traditional media). Awkward blunders, old interview clips and sometimes quite serious moments became memes, whether or not the candidates particularly wanted them to.
The Nelk Boys, a group of prank-pulling internet stars with a popular podcast, popped up at the Republican National Convention, and Mr. Trump played a viral round of charity golf with the popular YouTuber and professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau. Ms. Harris was absorbed into the online hype around Charli XCX’s summer album, “brat,” and her campaign embraced it.
In pursuit of viral moments, the candidates appeared on TikTok shows and dueling podcasts. (For Ms. Harris, “Call Her Daddy” and the Brené Brown podcast “Unlocking Us.” For Mr. Trump, “Impaulsive,” hosted by the YouTube prankster turned professional wrestler Logan Paul, and “The Joe Rogan Experience.”) Both sides maintained official campaign TikTok accounts, churning out loose, timely videos that felt diametrically opposed to the more slick look of conventional ads.
