A Gen Z pop star kicked off Harris’ campaign. Puerto Rican musicians may bring her to the finish line
CNN
The influx of Latino artists denouncing Donald Trump and showing up for Kamala Harris is the October surprise that the vice president’s campaign didn’t see coming.
In September, Latin music superstar Nicky Jam appeared onstage with Donald Trump. Donning a red MAGA hat, the reggaeton singer told a Las Vegas rally that he was supporting the former president. On Tuesday, he withdrew his endorsement – joining a chorus of famous Puerto Ricans who have condemned comments made by a comedian at Trump’s New York City rally earlier this week assailing the US island territory. “Puerto Rico should be respected,” Nicky Jam told his 43 million Instagram followers. While Jam didn’t endorse Harris in his post, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, reggaeton star Don Omar, “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi and global superstar Bad Bunny are among the celebrities of Puerto Rican descent who have shown support for the vice president or her platform since Sunday. Lopez is also participating in a rally alongside Harris in Las Vegas on Thursday. Harris campaign officials had always planned for star-studded events in the homestretch of the presidential election. But the influx of Latino artists denouncing Trump and showing up for Harris with voting already underway is the October surprise that the campaign didn’t see coming. Together, those stars have a combined 390 million global followers on Instagram alone – more than the US population.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has issued a series of political predictions this week, based on strong Republican showings in early voting turnout data, that former President Donald Trump is “trending toward a crushing victory” in Pennsylvania and that Vice President Kamala Harris should even be “worried about losing Virginia.”