The Democratic Party has relied heavily on star-studded celebrity endorsements over several elections to build support for its candidates – especially when appealing to younger voters.
It’s been a highly effective tool – which is why the tactic has been rolled out repeatedly from before Barack Obama’s 200-plus celebrity star endorsements outshone Republican Mitt Romney’s 31.
It was a trend that continued for Democrat candidates Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – but this election saw the atmosphere change as star power lost its sparkle.
Days before America voted, Cardi B was a late endorsement which proved to be quite contentious – X user Carlos Nandez said: “You keep bringing these rich celebrities who don’t relate to us at all.”
The rapper was awkwardly stuck on stage in Wisconsin waiting for her phone after a teleprompter glitch left her in the lurch.
She frantically called out for her assistant Patience to bring her phone as the crowd waited so she could finish her speech.
There were other problems for the Harris campaign when it came to celebrities including Beyoncé fans being left irate after the singer failed to perform at Harris’s Houston rally.
The global star took to the stage to endorse the vice-president with some fans lining up for 12 hours after rumors swelled online that she was going to sing.
The ‘Single Ladies’ hitmaker had performed for Hilary Clinton’s convention when she endorsed her in 2016 but did not give an encore in Texas.
People marched towards the exits as soon as Beyoncé left the stage with some accusing the Harris campaign of “bait and switch” tactics.
While Trump had some celebrities in his corner, including Hulk Hogan, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, the former president’s star roster was greatly overshadowed by his opponent’s offering.
Harris’s celebrity talent burned far brighter with Eminem, Oprah, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr and Taylor Swift being just several of many celebrities who endorsed the vice president.
Celebrities are seen by many people as out of touch with their reality due to the power they wield and the wealth at their disposal – a fact that resonated strongly with the county’s working class.
While millions of Americans voted predominantly on the economy and the high cost of living that many of them had not personally experienced before – celebrities came across to a lot of people as a superficial approach from Harris who struggled to connect with large swathes of voters.
Liberal commentator Van Jones saw the writing on the wall on the eve of the election and aired his concerns on CNN.
He said: “The thing that makes me nervous, is in 2016, we had a big star-studded event right on the edge of the election – and we lost the state.
“I don’t think people understand, working people sometimes have to choose: ‘Am I going to go to the big, cool concert and pay for babysitting for that or am I going to figure out a way to get to the polls?’
“I don‘t like these big, star-studded events.
“I don’t want people going to concerts.
“I want people out there knocking on doors, I want people out there fighting for this thing.”
Trump went on to not only win the required electoral college numbers but also the popular vote in what was a landslide victory for the Republican party.
Featured image: Asterio Tecson, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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