World News

By Oscar Stowell '28 in Fall 2024

Seemingly every major celebrity on the planet from Hulk Hogan to Billie Eilish chimed in with their thoughts on the election, using their freedom of speech and large fanbases in an attempt to sway the results of the 2024 presidential election, one that many believe to have been the most important of our lifetime.

On September 10, 2024, only minutes after the end of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Taylor Swift took to Instagram. Her much anticipated endorsement clearly stated that she would be casting her vote for Harris, because she “is a steady handed, gifted leader,” and that “we can achieve so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.” She signed the post simply “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” a term which Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance has repeatedly used to disparage liberal women. 

In addition, earlier this year on July 21st, Charli XCX tweeted simply, “kamala IS brat,” a reference to the British singer’s recent album, which has been incredibly popular among younger voters, a demographic that the Harris/Walz administration was desperate to strike a chord with. Soon after receiving the support of one of the summer’s biggest stars, the Harris headquarters paid homage to the album by adopting a bright green X homepage with blurred letters.

Donald Trump’s choices of including pop culture in his campaign have not had the same effects, and even caused legal issues. Trump currently has multiple pop artists suing him over the unauthorized use of their songs at his rallies. Trump's picks include Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In the USA,” despite the fact that Springsteen has called Trump “The most dangerous candidate of [his] lifetime.” 

Both candidates were eager to reach the young demographic– the newest generation of voters– and seem to have decided that integrating pop culture into their campaign was the best way to do so.

In hindsight, while Kamala Harris’s ability to get the endorsements of pop icons was exciting at the time, it raises the concern that running a campaign full of millionaires felt too elitist to the working class, who instead turned to vote for Donald Trump, despite his being friends with multi-billionaires himself. After President-Elect Donald Trump won the election, it feels that perhaps he had more effective tactics to get young voters, especially young men. From his appearances at college campuses to his interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, he was able to reach a large demographic and get their vote. Whatever his tactics, they clearly worked. Not only did he win the electoral college, he was the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004, and will become the next president of the United States on January 20, 2025.