WASHINGTON (TND) — Presidential candidates are turning to celebrities to help them make their case in the upcoming November election that features two of the most unpopular presidents in American history in a head-to-head matchup.
Star-studded fundraisers are a regular occurrence in high-profile races as running for federal offices gets more expensive, especially for competitive seats that draw outside spending. But politicians also turn to movie stars and singers to help shine their profiles and reach younger audiences that may be first-time voters in the upcoming election.
The Biden campaign has recently turned to actor Robert De Niro, who voiced an advertisement released this week and also appeared outside the Manhattan courthouse where closing arguments in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial were underway.
“I don’t mean to scare you. No no, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you,” De Niro said during the surprise press conference appearing alongside two former Capitol Police officers who were working during the Jan. 6 riot. “If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss away these freedoms that we take for granted, and elections, forget about it He will never leave.”
Engaging with the trial was a shift away from the previous strategy from the campaign to mostly avoid discussing it, but it was also another example of candidates turning to a celebrity to help their cause.
“Biden's campaign needs a lightning bolt, it needs a turbocharge,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. “When you don't have it with the candidate or his vice president because their approval ratings are underwater, then you turn to people like celebrities.”
Campaigns turning to celebrities is a frequently used strategy on both sides of the aisle as candidates try to raise their profiles, raise money and bolster their favorability ratings.
Trump has appeared at rallies with various celebrities in his nearly 10 years as a presidential candidate from Kid Rock to Kelsey Grammar and Chuck Norris He has also sought endorsements and contributions from other high-profile people in entertainment and business.
Celebrities can help campaigns drive turnout through voter registration drives and can also draw big returns on fundraisers, which is more important as every cycle breaks or nears a record for the most expensive ever.
But the strategy is not appearing to change many minds in the current election, where both candidates are well-known to voters whose opinions of them have hardened over the last several years.
Biden and Trump are both deeply unpopular with the American public after one term in office. Both candidates have approval ratings beneath 40% and are the two biggest and most well-known names in politics, meaning there is little room for opinions to budge and endorsements don’t provide as much value.
“We've seen Biden, we've seen Trump. If it were Jones and Clark running against each other and nobody knew Jones or Clark, then these celebrities would probably have a bigger impact,” Paleologos said.
A Suffolk University-USA Today poll earlier this month found celebrity endorsements aren’t moving the needle much for voters despite large followings and impact on U.S. culture. Given a list of celebrities from entertainment to sports and politics, most voters said an endorsement wouldn’t do much to change how they are going to vote.
Only 3% of voters said a Taylor Swift or Beyoncé endorsement would influence them “a lot,” while 89% said Swift’s endorsement would not matter at all or make them less likely to support the candidate and 91% for Beyoncé. Former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were the most likely to influence votes with 18% saying their endorsement would matter a lot, but many of those people were already likely to vote for Biden, which minimizes the impact.
Polling with less than six months to go before Election Day indicates tight margins once November arrives. Trump has held leads in most polls, but there is still a lot that can change before Americans cast their ballots, including a potential conviction in Trump’s hush money case that could take supporters out of his camp.
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