The brains behind Kamala Harris’ 2024 social-media machine are staging a second act.
Harris’s campaign pages on TikTok and X, which have remained inactive since her November defeat to Donald Trump, are being transformed into a progressive advocacy tool through a partnership with People For the American Way. The rebranded accounts, now called “Headquarters,” retain the millions of followers accumulated during the campaign.
Vice President Harris and People For the American Way revealed the new venture Thursday, describing it as an effort “to funnel young people into both online and offline action for progressive values.”
The former vice president will serve as honorary chair emerita of Headquarters but will not have editorial control over content, according to the announcement. Her senior adviser Kirsten Allen will join the organization’s board of directors.
People For the American Way, which has roughly 1 million members, plans to expand the operation to YouTube and Substack, developing long-form video content alongside rapid-response social media posts.
Arlie Shugaar, who led Harris’ video rapid response, will join Headquarters as director. Parker Butler, who spearheaded Harris’ digital rapid response in 2024, will be a senior adviser, as will Lauren Kapp, who led the campaign’s TikTok efforts. Butler and Kapp together run a consulting firm, Luminary Strategies, which will help run the accounts. All three Harris alumni will be involved in day-to-day operations.
“It makes no sense for those accounts to just sit dormant,” Butler told MS NOW in an interview. “Vice President Harris clearly understands that.”
The initiative represents Democrats’ latest attempt to compete in the online ecosystem that Trump has permeated for a decade. Democrats’ efforts to gain traction have sometimes flopped with audiences, who’ve labeled certain attempts as “cringe.”
Trump’s “War Room” campaign account on X has remained active since the election, continuing to shape political narratives online. “We often think that MAGA and Trump are the ones who sort of are able to command attention online, and I think that the goal of this account is to turn that on its head,” Butler said. Headquarters, he said, will operate as a rapid-response account that will also highlight progressive leaders and “uplifting content,” as Harris noted in her video announcement of the project. As of Thursday morning, the accounts formerly named “KamalaHQ” have already been rebranded as “Headquarters.” Eugene Daniels contributed to this report
Akayla Gardner is a White House correspondent for MS NOW. Recommended
