Voters deserve better than cat and brat memes

Digital tech was always going to play a big role in the 2024 presidential election campaign. AI deep fakes and viral memes have been long touted as having the potential to swing election outcomes. And the respective Democratic and Republican campaigns have not disappointed in terms of digital engagement.

But is the real story one of social media and AI creating a smokescreen that confounds critical public discourse and derails cogent discussion?

Harris’s online army of superfans, the K-Hive, moved early after Biden’s withdrawal to make the vice president’s womanhood, blackness and propensity for laughter assets rather than hindrances to her electability. Video montages of Harris, set to pop songs from Charli XCX’s album “Brat” or Chappell Roan’s “Femininomenon,” have posed a problem for Trump. Harris’s gender and race have been deployed boldly and positively, leaving the Republican campaign flailing.

The response has been to target politics instead — not Harris’s actual politics, but a nonsensical caricature of the vice president as a communist military dictator, in an AI-generated image shared by Trump on Truth Social and X in mid-August. Elon Musk, who has become a staunch supporter of Trump, shared a similar fake image of a uniformed Harris in September, contravening the rules of his own platform.

These AI images are ultimately unconvincing, appearing too glitzy — perhaps too real to be real on a visual level — and risible in terms of political realities. A good portion of the electorate no doubt appreciates that Harris is no friendlier to Soviet communism than Trump. Only a handful of diehard Trump supporters would believe otherwise.

What, then, is to be gained from sharing memes that are so lacking in credibility? In short, an attempt (often successful) to derail rational discourse and access emotions.

For this same reason, unsubstantiated viral claims over Ohio immigrants stealing and eating wildlife and family pets (including the feline variety) have been perpetuated by Trump and running mate JD Vance. This is a reminder that memes about cats will confound whatever hopes we ever had that the internet might provide a space for civil and intelligent political discussion.

Since Trump doubled down on the cat-eating story during the presidential debate, it seemed that cat lovers were being subjected to racist opportunism. However, after the presidential debate, Taylor Swift signed off her Instagram endorsement of Harris with “Childless Cat Lady,” in solidarity with the VP, a reference to Vance's 2021 remark about "childless cat ladies" running America. It seems this feline tale has a way to go yet.

As simultaneously bizarre and funny as all this seems, the combination of cats and communism belies a cynical reality about society today. A great many people are stressed, tired, financially broke, mentally ill and addicted to quick consumerist fixes, with social media providing a crucial hit of dopamine that is both constant and never enough. The traumatized (which includes many of us, to a greater or lesser degree) are especially vulnerable.

With people already hooked into a cycle of scrolling, posting, checking for likes and follows, then repeating, the insertion into their feeds of emotive topics (cats, communism, war, nuclear annihilation, race, gender, trans issues, abortion and so on) serves to further disrupt their ability to make informed choices. When accompanied by clear lies, misleading images and barefaced bigotry, such messaging can leave voters incensed, disenfranchised and disinclined to engage. Which apparently might be the best chance Trump and Vance feel they have.

Neither side is innocent of this, however. The Democrats’ embrace of Kamala as “brat” is hardly the epitome of sound political discussion. It may be more positive as a statement, with brat-ishness implying confidence, boldness and swagger. But it does nothing to level up wealth in deprived rural areas or provide sound living wages to the poorest workers.

This election's result is far from certain, despite a dangerous triumphalism from the Democrat camp (or is this what “brat” means?). Whoever wins, the loser will be a beleaguered, broken-down and internet-addicted public. The U.S. deserves more from its campaigning politicians and its social media platforms.

Mike Watson is a media and art theorist and educator born in the U.K. and based in Finland. His latest book is “Hungry Ghosts in the Machine: Addiction, Digital Capitalism and the Search for Self,” out Sept. 27.