One of the biggest pitfalls of Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign was the over-reliance on celebrity endorsements. Now, this isn’t to say Harris lost the election solely because of those endorsements, considering the Vice President overwhelmingly lost to President-elect Donald Trump, but those massive endorsements clearly didn’t do her any favors with voters, especially amongst independents.
A recent YouGov survey revealed that about one in 10 Americans note that a celebrity endorsement has caused them to reconsider their stance on the presidential race. Additionally, only seven percent of Americans say they supported a presidential candidate because a celebrity endorsed them.
Digging deeper, there is a major divide between Democrats and Republicans. In the same survey, Democrats were found to be more likely than Republicans to vote because of celebrity encouragement, with 13% of Democrats stating that a celebrity endorsement has caused them to change their political stance compared to four percent of Independent and Republican voters.
Throwing all this out there is not to say that Democrats are the only party that involved celebrity endorsements in their campaigns. Trump brought out guests to his rallies such as Elon Musk, Dr. Phil, Dana White, Danica Patrick, Tucker Carlson, Amber Rose and Bryce Hall. However, most of those appearances were spent with the celebrities actually speaking in depth to the American public about the issues facing our country.
While I disagreed with virtually everything these celebrities had to say, there is no question that the Republican party handled these endorsements far better than the Democratic party did.
The Harris campaign placed her endorsements on a silver platter, and it’s easy to understand why. There was a plethora of endorsements from some of the biggest stars across the country and even the world including Beyoncé, Oprah, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Taylor Swift. If the presidential election was decided by celebrity endorsements, then Harris would’ve won in a landslide.
However, that obviously wasn’t the case, even with so much time and energy put into artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Gracie Abrams and Maggie Rogers performing at all-important swing state rallies. All these efforts added to other advertising resulted in Harris’s campaign being in a reported $20 million dollars in debt.
The main reason why celebrity endorsements don’t matter is because hard-working, regular people who are struggling to buy groceries, fill up their cars with gas or provide for their families, feel nothing when they see rich and privileged celebrities tout their success and talk about the dreams of the American people. This is not to say that celebrities don’t have anything of value to say. We see many celebrities rightfully fighting for social justice and humanitarian crises worldwide. But in a time like today, where so many people are struggling, it becomes nauseating to watch celebrities – those whose lives will hardly change regardless of what administration enters the White House – try to educate the public about why you should be worried about your future.
Whether it was using the “BRAT” logo or putting Swift at the helm of the “childless cat movement,” it’s clear that this messaging did not resonate with most voters. I implore the Democratic party to finally change what they’ve been doing for the past, what seems like, 10 years now. The strategy is tiresome and it’s hurting the American people.
Next time, maybe let’s focus on the candidates themselves stepping up onto the podium and speaking from the heart and focusing on the plethora of issues that actually determined the election – just a thought.
