Old-School Celebrities Could Not Move the Needle
The New York Times
Hollywood endorsements, once an essential part of a campaign playbook, may have backfired in this election.
In an election season in which both parties sought out any possible edge, Democrats clung to one seemingly clear-cut advantage: Celebrities including Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen broke hard for that party, even as voters did not.
President-elect Donald J. Trump had his own famous supporters, drawing from a more masculine cohort, with figures like Kanye West and Mel Gibson, as well as less mainstream acts like Kid Rock and Jon Voight, also weighing in with their endorsements. The result was a split-screen of American celebrity — two sets of famous people for two halves of the country. But by and large, the biggest names in entertainment said Vice President Kamala Harris should be elected to the nation’s highest office.
In the end, it did not seem to matter much.
Ms. Harris was decisively defeated on Tuesday, despite the backing of a megastar like Beyoncé.
On the singer’s Instagram page, one commenter put it succinctly.
“America is tired,” wrote Albert Pennachio, an independent voter who lives in Statesville, N.C. “And we don’t care what celebrities think anymore.”
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