Trump's 'eating the cats' to 'Kamala is brat': How memes are shaping US presidential polls 2024

A couple of the AI-generated memes doing rounds on social media ahead of the US elections on November 5. (Image credit: @Zoltan_47, @drefanzor/X)

Ahead of the 2024 US election on November 5, it's not only the politicians and their campaign managers who have been burning the midnight oil, it's also the meme-makers on social media who have used every opportunity that the fight between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump offered, to spark laughter and... prove a point.

Voters have encountered AI-generated videos of former US president Trump riding a cat while wielding an assault rifle, pictures of vice president Kamala Harris in communist attire, and even a song written on Trump's absurd allegations of migrants eating their pet cats.

Here are a few of the meme-worthy incidents in the run-up to the polls:

The former US president being "fired up" over the recent death of "Peanut" the viral squirrel, still has the meme machines churning out images presenting him as the saviour of animals. The death has become a flashpoint in the elections. Peanut was seized from its owner’s home and euthanised by state officials over concerns of rabies.

pic.twitter.com/ekgb0Q55Pa

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(@Vox_Oculi) November 2, 2024

This is for you Peanut!!! #PeanutTheSquirrel#Trump#Trump2024pic.twitter.com/F9KnLaTmdw Gusy (@arnolyuarsenege) November 3, 2024

"Eating the cats", a parody song by The Kiffness that sets to music Trump's extraordinary claims during the US presidential debate that migrants in Ohio "are eating the dogs, eating the cats", has been viewed more than 8.7 million times on YouTube alone in 12 days. Created by a pet-loving musician from South Africa, whose real name is David Scott, the lyrics include: "People of Springfield please don't eat my cat... Why would you do that?/ Eat something else."

You aint eating these fucking cats.

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~ Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ZiskDF5R92 Jason A. Williams (@GoingParabolic) September 11, 2024

Its a bird? Its a plane? No, it's Donald Trump!#Trump#eatingthecats#CatsForTrumppic.twitter.com/v39ecKtMfu Le Crapaud (@Zoltan_47) September 13, 2024

Over the weekend, a new poll placed Harris ahead of Trump in Iowa -- a state in which Trump triumphed in 2016 and 2020. The poll, carried out by Des Moines Register/Mediacom, gives Harris a three-point lead over her rival, Forbes reported. If accurate, it will be the first time since Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012 that Iowa supported Democrats. That's why, not many were surprised when the poll result spurred a series of memes across the internet.

Ann Selzer dropping a +3 Kamala poll in Iowa on Saturday night pic.twitter.com/6ZmgBfWy9W

stacy (@stacycay) November 3, 2024

Social media erupted with a flood of memes after US President Joe Biden compared Donald Trump's supporters to “garbage" during a campaign event. The comment, intended to condemn a racially charged joke about Puerto Rico made at a Trump rally, quickly backfired.

i knew i made a biden garbage meme at some point pic.twitter.com/JuOVMiuAqS drefanzor memes (@drefanzor) October 30, 2024

A day after Harris launched her presidential bid, her campaign account on X, KamalaHQ, had gained more than 5 lakh followers, Al Jazeera noted. It was at the same that Charli herself endorsed the US vice president in a three-word X post that rattled cyberspace and that Harris’s campaign quickly appropriated: “kamala IS brat.” Brat is Charli’s sixth studio album which was released on June 7.

Soon after, Harris's account’s cover image had the words “kamala hq” sprawled across a backdrop similar to Charli's album cover.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kamala HQ (@kamalahq)

In an interview, Charli described a brat as “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes”. The sentiment has resonated with many social media users.