Some celebrities are making endorsements in the presidential race. With one of the most famous celebrities of our time, Taylor Swift, announcing her support for Vice President Kamala Harris and celebrity tech mogul Elon Musk backing Former President Donald Trump, many experts have been left to answer the question - do celebrity endorsements really matter?
Bowling Green State University political science professor David Jackson studies this topic and tells KNX News, yes..sometimes.
"So if you look at the Taylor Swift endorsement of Harris-Walz, she was very careful to point out a couple of different things," Jackson said. "Number one, she said that she had done her research on the issue... and encouraged the fans to do the same thing."
Second, Jackson said, "She made a comment about her perception of Kamala Harris's judgment by choosing Tim Walz to be her vice presidential candidate based on his support for the LGBTQ+ community."
He said that shows Swift is paying attention to where the candidates stand on the issues.
So, in terms of being famous, well-loved, and most importantly, being perceived as credible, Jackson said, "I think it's fair to say that this is one of the most major celebrity endorsements possible."
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However, media expert and best-selling author Michael Levine says celebrity endorsements can sometimes backfire.
"It is true that celebrities bring attention," Levine said, "But attention is a currency that comes in both good and bad form."
In Levine's view, the Donald Trump voter base feels psychologically at war with the elites of this country, who they believe are not looking out for the interests of the people.
"And so who is a better or bigger ambassador of the elites of this country than Taylor Swift; young, beautiful, rich, powerful," Levine pointed out. So, the Swift endorsement could ruin any chance of the Harris ticket winning over voters from the other side.
Similarly, Musk's endorsement of Trump has been attacked by Democrats, who have called out the two for sharing anti-worker sentiments. Not to mention the now-deleted troubling post on his social media platform 'X' where Musk said, "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala," in response to a user who asked, "Why they want to kill Donald Trump?"
Levine believes that the impact of celebrity endorsements can also often be overestimated.
Recently, Bill Maher said on his HBO show Real Time that the big push to get President Biden to drop out of the race picked up momentum when George Clooney wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, but Levine disputes the claim.
He says that by that time, many lawmakers and other party members were saying that Biden had to step aside.
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