"The last two months have felt like everyone's for you page has included sound bites, edits, and trends from the recent 2025 New York Mayoral election. Some of the more memorable TikTok moments from the election were Curtis Sliwa's seventeen cats and the sound bite "The Name Is Mamdani." This is not the first election to employ TikTok as a campaign mode, and the public is also making their own material with it."
"People globally began to closely monitor what was happening in the elections as it was highly important and crucial; the fact that everyone was stranded at home really added to the attention. One of the most viral moments of the election was Trump's choice for Vice President, Mike Pence, having a fly on his head during a portion of the discussion. A seemingly little detail sparked a media frenzy of memes and comments."
Short-form video platforms have shifted election engagement toward bite-sized clips, trends, and sound bites that emphasize spectacle over substantive policy. Viral moments such as Curtis Sliwa's seventeen cats and the "The Name Is Mamdani" sound bite illustrate how personality-driven snippets dominate attention. TikTok's surge during the 2020 pandemic amplified public scrutiny of elections, turning minor occurrences—like a fly landing on Mike Pence—into widespread media phenomena. Subsequent elections produced more memeable content, including references like "Kamala is \"Brat\"" and the "they're eating the dogs / they're eating the cats" claim. The trend converts voters into spectators and candidates into entertainment brands.
Read at Her Campus
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