Why ‘brat’ culture is exactly what US politics needs right now

Kamala Harris’s decision to lean heavily into the Gen Z trend popularised by British pop star Charlie XCX has been derided by some as cringe-worthy – but set against Donald Trump’s creepy fondness for kissing the Stars and Stripes, it might yet prove to be marketing genius, says Sean O’Grady

Pop star Charli XCX has endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election (Getty)

The Americans have a great deal to thank the British for: the Pilgrim Fathers, the system of common law, James Corden. And now their presidential election has been greatly enlivened by the intervention of the young British pop star – Charli XCX.

Ms XCX (who will no doubt one day be elevated to become Dame Charli) has endorsed Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, describing her as “brat” – the name of, and zeitgeist concept behind, her latest album. Vice-president Harris and her team have eagerly seized on the compliment, and deployed the album’s basic lime green theme and typography in their campaign paraphernalia.

And, yes, it does look cool and it is eye-catching, especially when placed against Donald Trump’s cynical abuse of the Stars and Stripes, a somewhat dated graphological style, to be honest. Seeing Trump grab and kiss the flag always gives one the creeps, though he can’t get sued for that assault.

As Charli declared the other day, “Kamala IS brat", and who can argue with that degree? In essence, again according to Ms XCX, “brat” encompasses the idea of a person who might have "a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra".

Or, as she once elaborated, “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes… feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown. It’s very honest, it’s very blunt, a little bit volatile.”

I presume not literally. The VP never looks messy, has excellent taste in trouser suits and must surely be anti-smoking, but Kamala certainly has that required quality of a sassy presidential candidate of the right attitude. As an experienced state prosecutor and member of cabinet, she’s not given to having a breakdown; with just the occasionally odd, if not dumb thing, such as that remark about “falling out of the coconut tree”.

It’s only fair to concede that Trump also has plenty of attitude, probably a surfeit, and does say dumb things all too often – but he’s no one’s idea of sassy. He is definitely not “brat”. Well, not very. More Village People and that embarrassing shuffly dance he does; whereas, well, Kamala can really move (the opinion polls, too).

At any rate, Ms XCX (real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison, of Start Hill in Essex) has helped liberate America from having to choose between the same two old blokes they were confronted with last time, which, aside from Trump’s dictatorial tendencies, is like asking whether Statler or Waldorf should be a leader of the free world.

We’ve moved even closer to a world where politics and what we used to call light entertainment, and is now, for better or worse, “culture”, have melded, and Trump, despite his juvenile tendencies, some was never going to thrive in such an environment; Harris, now with a good chance of being America’s first woman – indeed, brat – president, is much better placed to exploit it.

Those of us who like to think of themselves as members of the serious press have to deal with this trend as much as anyone else, and I’m indebted to the Financial Times for this insouciant piece of analysis: “You have almost certainly known Charli for longer than just a week. Her 2012 collaboration with Icona Pop, “I Love It”, with its irresistible crux (‘You’re from the 70s, and I’m a 90s bitch!’) is a staple of wedding dance floors.”

It may well be that, sloshed on prosecco, I’ve fallen over bopping along to that one in some celebratory marquee, but the irresistible crux, sad to say, passed me by.

Americans, surely, feel they deserve a change, as well as not wanting to “go back” to either of the old boys. With only, it’s been almost 50 years since a presidential ticket didn’t contain a Bush, a Clinton, a Biden (or a Trump, for that matter), and the system really needs a transfusion.

Kamala is change – and voters in those vital swing states should ask themselves, as Charli puts it in her sixth album, Crash: “How can I not know what I need right now.”