The 2024 Presidential election was a historic moment in United States history, a former president and the Vice President incumbent battling in a partisan political climate. The race for the highest office in this country between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Tensions were high and so were the stakes. Both candidates were doing everything in their power to win, and the competition bled over into TikTok. More and more of today’s youth has moved away from traditional news channels to social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram, and X.
Donald Trump’s campaign made a valiant effort, but it was clear, Kamala Harris took the app and summer by storm with Kamala HQ in a ‘brat’ theme. ‘brat’ is an album by British pop star Charli XCX who also dominated music charts with songs like “360”, “Apple”, and “Von Dutch”, many of which became associated with the Harris-Walz Campaign.
But who was the brains behind this social media campaign, and how did they manage to create a pop culture phenomenon? The answer can be traced to campus.
It was Liberty High School and Wingspan alumni Parker Butler, who was appointed the Director of Digital Rapid Response and led the charge on Kamala HQ. To better understand how he assumed this position, where he started, and what his roles were, Wingspan sat down for an interview with Butler.
Wingspan: Tell us about your humble beginnings at Wingspan.
Butler: “I was on Wingspan for all four years of high school and I did broadcast in middle school, too. I loved Wingspan, I loved Mr. Higgins, and I also did debate. I was very into media, student government, and politics.”
Wingspan: How did working on Wingspan kinda help set up that foundation of what you do today?
Butler: “I would say Wingspan allowed me to do what I wanted to do. There was flexibility. The fact that I had a podcast that I made for Wingspan that was about politics, which is still available if anyone wants to listen to it. Wingspan really empowered myself and others that I had worked with to do what they like to do. It’s representative of how great of a program Wingspan is, you can have any sort of interest and see how it intersects with journalism and media, and just run with it.”
Wingspan: So how did you get a start in politics? While you were in high school, did you do any local political activities?
Butler: In 2018, my senior year, I was part of organizing the walkouts in some schools for protesting gun reform because of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, so that was a big formative moment. We organized those walkouts throughout almost every high school in Frisco, it was a group effort, and student led. In high school I started taking an interest for causes.
Wingspan: How did this passion spill into college?
Butler: “I was very involved in the college Democrats on campus and that was very fun to get a start in campaigning and communications work. Unfortunately COVID-19 kind of cut my college in half, but that also allowed me to work on move back home to Texas during the pandemic and work on the Biden Campaign.”
Wingspan: It was your work on the Biden campaign that caught the attention of Harris’ team. But, how did you get that position of Director of Kamala HQ?
Butler: “Basically in 2023, a year before the election, I was told I was going to be the director of this program. I got to hire a team and basically create a program for myself. There was a lot of trust involved. You can see in terms of content that it’s so out there the aesthetic of it. It’s not what you would normally expect of a campaign. It was unpolished and fit the TikTok vibe of the moment. It was my first time managing people. We had interns, we had staff full time, people who focus full time on TikTok, on Instagram, twitter, and literally people whose jobs were to track Donald Trump. And we’re putting out content all day everyday and analyzing it. Using that time to influence future content.
Wingspan: But as many politics followers will remember, it was Joe Biden that was running for re-election until July 2024 who struggled in a debate, leaving many to speculate whether or not President Biden was still fit to lead the country and then subsequently dropping out. So, what happened after Biden dropped out?
Butler: “It started as Biden HQ and then in July when the switch to Kamala Harris happened we had to literally in a matter of hours create a new brand overnight. It was just like lightning in a bottle. It was such a cultural phenomenon.”
Wingspan: How important do you think KamalaHQ was to not only politics but pop culture? Has it brought us into a new age of campaign tactics?
Butler: “I think it is. I’ve heard from a lot of people in that industry who definitely thinks that the case. I hope that we were able to model for candidates where the information landscape is headed. It’s only gonna get more fast paced. It’s only the beginning of where things are headed when it comes to the internet and politics. More and more the internet is becoming real life because that’s where people spend their time and learn about news. In 2028, millennials and Gen Z are going to be the majority audience. So it’s going to head in this direction more.”
Wingspan: It was your work on the Harris-Walz campaign that earned you the nomination for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, how did you find out about it?
Butler: “I didn’t know and found out the same way everyone else did. It was very surprising I woke up one morning and a friend texted me congrats and I was like what are you talking about so I found out the same time other people did. It was a huge honor and other people on that list are doing incredible work too.”
Wingspan: After working on such an impactful project, and not so long after college, some may find it difficult to find what’s next. So what’s in the books for Butler?
Butler: “I don’t know quite yet. I’m having a lot of conversations with people in Democratic politics. Like I said I hope Kamala HQ is modeled for where we go on campaigns so I’m very invested to fight back against the incoming Trump administration. Unfortunately I worry that a lot of peoples’ rights are in danger and I will do whatever it takes to do what I can.”
