Will celebrity endorsements help Kamala Harris? What to know

Hollywood celebrities are starring in a new movie – the 2024 presidential election.

Republicans seem to be playing a game of whack a mole as actors, singers and even TikTok influencers have flooded the pages of social media with endorsements for Vice President Kamala Harris’s election. 

But likes and views are not votes, so who are these celebrities, and will they really influence the polls?

What experts say

Richard Benedetto, an adjunct professor at American University with expertise in national politics and elections, emphasized that celebrity endorsements are good for getting a candidate positive media publicity and buzz, but it is difficult to determine whether they persuade others to actually vote for that candidate.

"A few people, particularly younger voters who don’t closely follow politics, might be influenced to vote for the candidate, but most voters take many other factors into their decision," said Benedetto. "They also might help in fundraising, but their value is mostly overblown." 

A poll in May by Suffolk University and USA TODAY showed that celebrities are not likely to sway individual votes. The study revealed that the endorsements with the largest weight in elections were former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, who have recently voiced their support for Harris. 

The poll showed that support by Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are slightly more likely to influence votes than other celebrities.

However, with only 94 days left until the election and an unprecedented exit by President Joe Biden, whether or not these frequent endorsements by celebrities will truly make a difference is yet to be determined.

Celebrity Endorsements and support for Harris

Charli XCX 

A widely known recent endorsement by British pop star Charli XCX, "Kamala IS brat" on X, received over 35 million impressions.The term "brat,"born from her newest album, meaning bold, rebellious and embracing imperfection, went viral this summer. Harris’s campaign quickly rebranded an X banner and social media content inspired by the album, rapidly gaining followers and engagement from the younger generation.

Beyoncé

Superstar, Beyoncé’s representatives gave permission for Harris’s team to use her song "Freedom," as reported by a CNN source connected to Harris. According to Luminate data as reported by Digital Music News, streaming increased 1,300%, from 16,600 streams to 235,400 in just a few days after Harris used the song. 

John Legend

During a performance at the San Francisco Symphony, multihyphenate artist John Legend publicly announced his support for Harris, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Legend also devoted an Instagram post to voice his appreciation for Joe Biden’s term and his unwavering support to help Harris win in any way. "I’m so ready to work to help unite the pro-democracy coalition to reject [former President Donald] Trump’s authoritarian, oppressive Project 2025 and elect Kamala Harris as our President," he wrote. 

George Clooney

Actor George Clooney, a veteran in political campaigning and a Democratic donor, applauded Biden for exiting the race and endorsed Harris in a statement to CNN This came after his op-ed for the New York Times that urgently pleaded for Biden to step down. 

Kesha

Recording artist Kesha directly showed her support for Harris  in a video obtained by TMZ when she was asked about her thoughts on Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance After her outrage towards Vance’s comment about Democratic "childless cat ladies," she expressed support for Harris. 

Tiktoker Harry Daniels 

Influencer @Harry.Daniels on TikTok endorsed Harris in an unusual way by singing to her, gathering around 9.2 million views. In the TikTok video, the influencer stops Harris to belt the beginning of "Formation," by Beyonce. Daniels’ content revolves around suddenly serenading celebrities and widely known figures, even singing to Biden back in April. 

Celebrity Endorsements for Trump

Kid Rock

Kid Rock, a musician, is a major longtime supporter of Trump, performing at the Republican National Convention in July. In a video posted on his Instagram page, he referred to the former president as the "tried and true, red, white and blue, 100 percent America’s - - president."

Hulk Hogan

During the RNC, American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan referred to Trump as a gladiator and his hero in his endorsement speech. Midway through, he proceeded to rip his shirt open to reveal a Trump and Vance 2024 tank top underneath, not hiding his overwhelming support. 

Other celebrities who backed Trump 

Amber Rose

Amber Rose, American model and television personality, was another celebrity speaker at the RNC. Rose posted a picture with Trump and former first lady Melania Trump, captioning it "Trump 2024 ususus," in May. In her X announcement on speaking at the RNC, she posted a graphic with #MAGA and Trump 2024. 

Dana White 

The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White introduced Trump on day four of the RNC. In his speech, White highlights his friendship with Trump for 25 years, calling him the "toughest, most resilient human being," that he has ever met in his life.

50 Cent 

50 Cent created an edit of his "Get Rich or Die Tryin," album cover with Trump’s head on the artist’s body, featuring it during his Boston concert in July. This edit came after the attempted assassination of Trump, since the cover depicts 50 Cent’s body behind a glass that was shot by a bullet. The rapper has made no direct call for Trump regarding the 2024 election besides the album cover edit, but has endorsed and unendorsed Trump in the past, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

In the past 

Taylor Swift

Back in 2018, Taylor Swift urged her fans to register to vote, and the Swifites immediately took action.

The Instagram story by Swift linked Vote.org — a nonprofit, nonpartisan voting registration and get-out-the-vote platform. From this, more than 39,000 voters registered on the week of National Voter Registration Day, reported Vote.org.

In 2020, the popstar also uploaded a viral photo of Biden-Harris cookies to show support for the presidential nominee, explaining her reason behind the decision in V Magazine’s V is for Vote Campaign. 

Numbers show that encouragement from celebrities generates attention, but there is no concrete evidence that celebrity endorsements make a significant impact on polls and it is difficult to measure the influence, according to researchers.  

Oprah Winfrey

However, some studies show that celebrities can make a difference. A 2013 study by Northwestern University and the University of Maryland suggests that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008 was responsible for approximately 1 million additional votes for him. 

Additional research on the so-called "Oprah Effect," in 2008 by two professors at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, revealed that participants in the study that read about Oprah’s endorsement led them to see Obama as more likely to win the nomination and more likely for them to vote for him.