Across nearly 30 videos, TikTokker @kiera.ln has gotten tens of millions of views. They started rolling in when she posted a clip of herself—in a silk robe, wearing sunglasses in bed—lip-syncing Donald Trump’s almost-infamous comments about Florida governor Ron DeSantis (whom he calls “Ron DeSanctimonious”) needing “a personality transplant.” That was in late September. The latest, posted Wednesday, is a lip sync of Trump on Fox News saying he would give himself “an A+.”
That most recent video felt like a full-circle moment. Trump’s “A+” comment came from an appearance on Fox and Friends in response to a question about how he handled the Covid-19 pandemic. The last person (give or take) to go mega-viral for lip-syncing the former president was Sarah Cooper, whose “How to Medical” video was a send-up of Trump’s suggestions that coronavirus be treated with disinfectant or UV light.
Released in April of 2020, Cooper’s TikTok went viral everywhere, from YouTube to X. They had nowhere else to go. It was the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns and everyone was stuck inside, doomscrolling for something to laugh at. She ended up getting an agent, a Netflix special, and a role in an off-Broadway play. She wrote three books, including a memoir she released last year. Cooper is the epitome of the viral TikTok star who parlayed her internet fame into a career.
@kiera.ln could do the same. But her videos, nearly all of which are titled “‘Trump Was Born to Be a Teenage Girl,” are lip syncs for a completely different era. The 2024 election cycle is all about being “brat”; Democrats are coming out and calling Trump “weird” now. Whereas Cooper’s videos felt like an attempt to fact-check the then-president by way of humor, @kiera.ln’s strategy of making him look like a Mean Girl goes straight to his insults. Four years ago, or even eight, Democrats—and those who support them on the internet—were loath to go that low. Calling his “nasty” comments nasty is now a frequent occurrence.
Comparing the former president to a teenage girl has a long history. Nylon did it in 2016 with Trump’s tweets, highlighting the perceived pettiness or immaturity in his comments. But even then there were those who pointed out it was almost unfair to teenage girls, who, in the opinion of one commenter, at least “have the chance of growing up and realizing just how terrible they’ve been.” Trump, at 78 years old, doesn’t have as much time left for emotional growth. Campaign emails from his presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, suggest he’s “old and quite weird,” presumably having already reached his final form.
Over the summer, Charli XCX, whose album Brat launched an entire craze, tweeted “kamala IS brat” shortly after Harris announced she would be running for president. It shifted the course of the election and turned mudslinging slime green. In Charli’s estimation, to be brat is to be vulnerable and messy—and admit it. Mean girls aren’t brats, but brats know how to be honest about who they are. Brats will meet you on your internet turf and call you a clown while applying their own lipstick. Brats go on the Call Her Daddy podcast and say many women are “not aspiring to be humble.”