Hours after US President Joe Biden announced that he was ending his re-election bid, British musician Charli XCX endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, tweeting "kamala IS brat".
The tweet immediately went viral, bemusing media commentators but electrifying certain segments of the electorate.
Charli XCX's chart-topping album, Brat, is a brash mix of dance and electronic club hits that celebrates drugs, cigarettes, messiness and vulnerability.
To be "brat", then, is to embrace all the above. In short, it means - at least to Charli XCX and her many fans - being your own authentic self.
The album is thriving in segments of Gen Z and queer culture, for whom it is now "brat summer" (or for her Australian and Kiwi fans, "brat winter", while Irish fans must settle for, "brat with an occasional bit of sun").
The link between Ms Harris and Brat has been building for weeks, driven by online fan communities and linking seamlessly into pre-existing Harris memes.
To the delight of many, on the day President Biden stepped down, a group of gay men were spotted in unofficial Brat/Harris crop tops.
Ms Harris’ campaign has embraced this pop cultural moment, sensing its potential to excite young voters.
Her account immediately followed Charli XCX on X, and the background on Harris’ official account briefly changed to Brat’s distinctive "slime green" colour.
The "brat vote" will not decide the election - although a high turnout in younger voters would likely benefit the Democratic ticket.
But the role of music and popular culture in political contests is one of the few historical continuities in a campaign that has been unprecedented on multiple fronts.
For decades, presidents and presidential aspirants have tried (with varying degrees of success) to use music and musicians to connect with voters.
In the 20th century, this included the campaign song, endorsements and fund raisers.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy used a modified version of High Hopes, performed by the celebrated crooner and his personal friend Frank Sinatra.
"Soul Brother No. 1" James Brown famously endorsed Richard Nixon's bid for a second term - which he won with a landslide, one of the two largest victories in the past century of US elections (the other was won by another Republican, Ronald Reagan securing his re-election).
Two years later, Nixon infamously had to depart the White House in shame to avoid impeachment.
Jimmy Carter's friendship with the southern rockers The Allman Brothers Band helped to get him elected.
The famously music friendly president (he was close friends with Bob Dylan, who played the White House during Carter's single-term presidency), said: "It was The Allman Brothers helped put me in the White House by raising money when I didn't have any money".
In 1984, Ronald Reagan referenced Bruce Springsteen’s hit Born in the USA, claiming that they had a shared vision of the American Dream.
Springsteen – who had already refused to allow the campaign to use his song – quickly expressed his profound disagreement. For anyone who took the time to listen to the lyrics, it was clear that the two men had profoundly different views of the US.
Subsequent Republican presidential aspirants, including Pat Buchanan and Bob Dole, also tried to piggyback on the song's popularity until Springsteen put manners on them too.
In 1992, Bill Clinton ran a Baby Boomer campaign, using Fleetwood Mac's Don’t Stop as his song. The band reunited to headline Clinton’s 1993 inauguration ball.
In the 21st century, the politics of popular culture and the music industry are front and centre.
Presidential contenders tend to choose songs by artists who are in broad ideological agreement with their core themes - and, unlike Regan, Buchanan and Dole, ensure that they get an endorsement from the performer too.
Republicans tend to rely on country music and patriotic rock songs by artists such as Billie Ray Cyrus, Lee Greenwood, Billie Dean and Van Halen.
Kid Rock, a conservative country rock/rap rock artist, has been both a song choice and a performer at the Republican National Convention.
Democrats have emphasised civil rights and feminist icons such as Curtis Mayfield, Dolly Parton and Aretha Franklin, politically conscious rock stars such as Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, and pop artists such as Katy Perry.
Sometimes, musical choices offer instructive insights into how politicians see themselves.
Reflecting his Gen X status and punk rock past, Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s 2020 presidential campaign song was Clampdown by The Clash.
In 2020, Donald Trump liked to dance at campaign events to the Village People’s camp classics YMCA and Macho Man. Continuing what is now decades'-old standard practice for performers unhappy with Republican appropriation of their tunes, the group sent him a cease and desist letter.
Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential challenger, channeled the feminist fury of Joan Jett's anthemic I Love Rock’N’Roll and Bad Reputation, marching on stage as the songs blasted her fans.
No discussion of music and the presidency would be complete without reference to Barack Obama.
Where once rap and hip hop groups like 2-Live Crew and NWA were arrested on obscenity charges, Obama enthusiastically enjoyed these genres and defended them as both forms of artistic expression and sources of social commentary.
As President, Obama loved to quote Jay Z, invited Beyoncé to perform the national anthem at his second inauguration, called Kanye West a "jackass", and shrugged off Trump’s conspiracy theories about his birth certificate by jokingly demanding to know, "Where are Biggie and Tupac?"
Obama’s association with popular culture has continued unabated since he left the White House.
Twice a year, he releases playlists of his favourite songs, although he has faced charges that youthful interns are curating the eclectic choices.
Kamala Harris talks frequently about her love of R&B. On election eve in 2020, she chose to walk out on stage to Mary J Blige’s Work That, a song celebrating female empowerment and self love.
And on the day that Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Beyoncé gave permission for her to use Freedom as an official campaign song.
