US The Viral Harris-Walz Camo Hat Is So Midwest Princess Coded, Actually

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The Viral Harris-Walz Camo Hat Is So Midwest Princess Coded, Actually​

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a.k.a. the newest “brat” to join Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, is getting some hot new merch ahead of election day—and the internet is absolutely loving it.

As you probably know by now, Vice President (and official Democratic presidential nominee) Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday that she had chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, much to the delight of progressives and gentle-hearted midwesterners nationwide. Now, the Harris-Walz campaign has embraced yet another internet trend with open arms: camo hats.

Internet goes wild for Chappell Roan-esque Harris-Walz hat, sells out in minutes​

Millennials and Gen Z-ers make up a huge voter bloc, so it’s absolutely essential that candidates, whether that be Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, or god forbid, even RFK Jr., win over the hearts of Americans between the ages of 18-43 if they have any hope of snagging the presidency. And so far—to use a little TikTok lingo here—Harris and Walz are absolutely slaying.

Their latest effort went viral Tuesday when the Harris-Walz campaign began selling camouflage trucker hats listing both of the candidates’ names in bright orange font. For those who aren’t chronically online, Walz is the internet’s new fave “midwest princess”—a nod to pop singer Chappell Roan’s debut studio album—having been born and raised in small-town Nebraska.

Hester Leyser, Director of Strategic Planning for the DNC, took to Twitter (X) to show off the new design, where she all but confirmed that the hat was, in fact, inspired by similar merch sold by Roan.

According to an official spokesperson for Team Harris (per The Washington Post), the initial run of 3 thousand hats sold out in just 30 minutes, raising over $1 million for the campaign. The “Femininomenon” singer herself responded to the new merch on social mediashortly after, writing, “is this real” alongside a photo of the hat. So…is this technically an endorsement?

Harris and Walz’s Gen Z marketing strategy could win Dems the election​

Appealing to young voters by leaning into pop culture trends has proven successful for the Harris-Walz campaign in the past, as many responded enthusiastically to Charli XCX’s July tweet, “kamala IS brat.” As for the camo hat, Business Insider accurately dubbed it a “stroke of Gen Z marketing genius,” playing into the kind of ironic, quasi-existential humor that has so defined the social media age. Given that this wasn’t exactly Joe Biden’s strong suit, Team Harris-Walz seems to know exactly what they’re doing.

And don’t worry: Tim Walz has already modeled the new hat for us, proving again that he’s truly a man of the people. As a proud Minnesotan and someone who voted for Walz back in 2018, I’m definitely partial here, but look how precious he is!

For now, there’s been no word on whether the Harris-Walz campaign has plans to put more trucker hats into production, but given the response to the first launch, it seems inevitable that more units will go on sale soon. Only time will tell if they can keep up the momentum and mobilize brats and midwest princesses alike to the ballot boxes come November.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I don't remember Hillary's VP being shilled this hard nor the blatant YAAAS SLAY QUEEN bullshit they're pulling for Kamala.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

STAHP IT

I can't believe I used to root for these people.

Is this in reference to brat as in bratwurst or something else?

 

[Vect]

Is this in reference to brat as in bratwurst or something else?

As explained by The Hill:

Charli XCX’s 2024 summer album release titled “Brat” is a nightclub favorite and features a collection of songs that are all about the female gaze and how younger generations of women aspire to live.

This is how the singer explained it in a TikTok video: “That girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown but parties through it. It’s very honest; it’s very blunt — a little bit volatile, does dumb things, but, like, it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”

Many have taken “brat” to be the opposite of the “perfect” girl image that women are faced with on social media. The “brat” color has also been co-opted by the Harris campaign. The very specific shade of chartreuse or lime green, has been shared across the social media channels of the campaign.

However, according to Charli, anyone can be a brat. “It can go that way, like, quite luxury, but it can also be so, like, trashy. Just, like, a pack of cigs, and, like, a Bic lighter, and, like, a strappy white top. With no bra. That’s, like, kind of all you need,” she said.

As you can see, totally relatable and entirely grassroots. Nothing nonsensical or unintentionally embarrassing at all.

Gen Z-ers make up a huge voter bloc

Also that is misleading. They are eligible to vote, but don't.

 

[John Badman]

When Donald wins, and he will because 2024 Dem campaign is Hillary dialed up to 10; I expect Donald to host a live execution of libshit journos via rubber-bands around the skull.

 

[DoomsdayElite]

People who say "coded" are absolutely kid diddlers. And this Harris/Walz dream team bullshit is so painfully forced and fucking gay even by the ultra-homo standards of Current Year politics.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

As you can see, totally relatable and entirely grassroots. Nothing nonsensical or unintentionally embarrassing at all.

So it's basically being trailer trash? I thought it was a reference to the upper Midwest or something. Do like a grilled brat.

 

[Vibralldo]

This is the saddest propaganda cycle yet

 

[HarblMcDavid]

Well they picked maybe the most unreadable camo pattern/font combo they could get.

At least the camo MAGA hats were legible without squinting to tone down the bright orange letters.

 

[BikeLock]

Goddammit, that hat would go great with the Realtree Epstein T-shirt.

 

[Lobster Cult High Priest]

Cringe. Their hats are shit, their memes are shit. The sort of midwest "princess" who might wear a camo hat knows damned well these two will take her guns if given the chance.

I used to wear a Camo hat of the automobile I drove all the time. I would rather wear a camo hat than a red MAGA hat. Just I don’t want to wear one with some Sheboon bitch name on it

 

[beautiful person]

So it's basically being trailer trash? I thought it was a reference to the upper Midwest or something. Do like a grilled brat.

Nah, Brat and Midwest Princess are separate things. I haven't listened to the latter, but have listened to Brat (and actually like it, lmao), but it's more about being a trashy party girl with occasional vulnerabilities and also occasionally contemplating settling down. For one, Charli XCX is a British coke-sniffer who has been making bleep-bloop club music that fags eat up her whole career. This is just her first major taste of mainstream success and relevance.

Looking more into Chappell Roan, she's apparently from Missouri. She's been making music for a while, but only recently started blowing up. What I mostly know about her is that on stage she wears really theatrical makeup that often looks like drag queen shit, which turned me off from her.

 

[quaawaa]

Amanda is a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer who lives and breathes Star Wars, Marvel, and all things pop culture. She has worked in digital media since 2021, covering the latest movie/TV releases, casting updates, fan theories, and so, so much more. When she's not rotting away behind her laptop screen, you can typically catch Amanda maxing out her AMC Stubs membership.

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What does a Californian know about the Midwest?

 

[LaxerBRO]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a.k.a. the newest “brat” to join Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign,

The Day of Rope can't come fast enough.

Now, the Harris-Walz campaign has embraced yet another internet trend with open arms: camo hats.

Great, more insufferable people wearing working class clothes.

What do you hunt?

What scope do you use?

Where do you hunt?

Their latest effort went viral Tuesday when the Harris-Walz campaign began selling camouflage trucker hats listing both of the candidates’ names in bright orange font.

 

[quaawaa]

I used to wear a Camo hat of the automobile I drove all the time. I would rather wear a camo hat than a red MAGA hat. Just I don’t want to wear one with some Sheboon bitch name on it

You’re in luck because Trump did the camo hat first:

https://secure.winred.com/trump-national-committee-jfc/storefront/maga-45-47-camo-hat/details (archive)

 

[Dick Johnson]

Democrats Think Their Candidate is Running for President of Online, Again

Freddie de Boer may be a self-described Marxist, but I think his cultural criticisms are more hit than miss.

 

[cybertoaster]

MFW

Internet goes wild for Chappell Roan-esque Harris-Walz hat, sells out in minutes​

Wait a minute. They were sold at ~$333 per hat? Or do they count money like they count votes?

Nobody bought the hats, probably don't even exist besides a few samples any souvenir store can make. They "sold" them at that price to get around campaign funding limitations, money laundering basically.

Everything's about fashion, popularity, and socially exclusionary tactics designed to create an underclass?

Guess the identity politics train is running out of steam then.

or god forbid, even RFK Jr.,

They hate kennedy more than trump now?

 

[Pentex]

Only time will tell if they can keep up the momentum and mobilize brats and midwest princesses alike to the ballot boxes come November.

Remember when politics was a profession for serious people?

 

[Snekposter]

Remember when politics was a profession for serious people?

When was that? Gaius Marius back in the days of the Roman Republic ran for Consul on a platform of calling his opponents a bunch of scar-less pussies who never bled for Rome. One time he even did a Hulkamania toga pull to demonstrate the sheer physical differences between him and his pasty-faced and soft-bodied opponent.

 

[Larry David's Opera Cape]

It's referring to this lesbian indie-pop singer named Chappell Roan and her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.

They're turning the real women into drag queens now. I want off this ride.

 

[beautiful person]

They're turning the real women into drag queens now. I want off this ride.

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This shit is literally exactly why I haven't bothered to listen to her music, even though it'd probably be right up my alley.

Here's some more examples:

Spoiler

Looking like a contestant from RuPaul's show, literally cosplaying as John Waters' buddy Divine.

There's this implication that Midwest automatically means "Country," and she incorporates a little bit of rhinestone cowboy into some of her outfits. But, while I'm not from the Midwest, I am from the country and have known a lot of born-and-raised multigenerational country girls, and none of them would ever style themselves like this. That's reserved for the weird artsy girls who dream of moving to the city.

Here's a quote from her Wikipedia page that confirms my assessment:

She has described her hometown and her upbringing as conservative and Christian.[8][9][10] During her childhood, she attended church three times a week and spent some summers at Christian camps.[9][11] In a 2023 Variety interview, she said that she struggled with her upbringing and snuck out often: "I just wanted to feel like a good person, but I had this part of me that wanted to escape so bad."[11]