The 2024 US presidential elections are just around the corner, and American voters ( as well as the whole world) are eager to know who’s going to represent their nation : Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.
The media is everyone’s eyes and ears nowadays, and in election is no exception. But what’s changed these past few years is that celebrities have started using their platforms to publicly endorse candidates and encourage fans to vote.
Democrat Kamala Harris has recently gained support from a handful of well known figures, from pop star Taylor Swift (who announced her vote on a candid Instagram post that debunked rumours about her endorsing Donald Trump, and publicized her choice to stand with Harris) to NBA star LeBron James’ viral ‘tweet’ about his opinion on who should govern the world his children will live in.
In Hollywood, stars like Julia Roberts have also shared their vote. The "Noting Hill" actress has been one of the most “hands-on” celebrities throughout this election, showing up to multiple political panels to talk about how important it is, in her opinion, that Kamala and her vice president Tim Walz are America's choice to lead the country. Other stars like Gracie Abrams, Beyonce, and Bruce Springsteen have also announced they are voting blue on November 5th.
The Substance actor Dennis Quaid, and America’s television personality Dr Phil McGraw, have given speeches in support of the Republican’s party candidate Donald Trump. Billionaire Elon Musk, was also present at the rally that took place at MSG (Madison Square Garden) stadium in New York City last weekend.
But, the question that keeps popping up on social media is, do these endorsements actually impact the result of the elections?
According to studies done by Harvard, these political endorsements made by celebrities could possibly affect the result of this election. And this wouldn't be the first time a phenomenon like this took place. Taylor Swift’s post about the 2018 elections resulted in 400 thousand North Americans looking for information about the -at the time upcoming- election on the government’s website VOTE.ORG. Since then, the singer has been very vocal about her political views to her 250 million Instagram followers. In this year’s presidential election, almost 250 thousand new voters registered after the singer announced her chosen candidate on her social media platforms.
According to Review.org, both millennials and Generation Z people have social media as their number one source of news, which ultimately makes it possible for voters to know every word the candidates have said in public, controversial or not. That, combined with the powerhouse that is social media and people's fascination with celebrities, can be a tool to get people out of the house and into the voting polls.
Be the first to comment