September 11, 2024. A few minutes after the end of the US presidential debate, Taylor Swift posted the following message on Instagram. “I will vote for Kamala Harris because she fights for rights and causes that need someone to champion them.” The next day, he reiterated his support for the Democratic Party candidate at the MTV VMA Awards – during which he was crowned with seven awards – and encouraged the American population to mobilize ahead of the November 5 elections. “If you are 19 years old, please register to vote. “This is an important election,” he said.
CBS reported that the effect of his comments was immediate: registrations increased by “400% or 500%”, which translates to “between 9,000 and 10,000 people per hour”, while 48 had not been achieved since the public announcement of the postulate. This was not the first time that the support of the international star pushed for participation. In 2018, 65,000 people registered in a single day after the artist announced on her Instagram account that she would vote for Democratic candidates in the midterm legislative elections held on October 9 of the same year .
Now, Swift isn’t the only one — she wasn’t the first and she won’t be the last. celebrity to run publicly for elections. And they do it using different speakers; either in the form of job on social media, in speeches at galas and concerts, or with performances at the campaign events themselves (as in the case of Mumford & Sons and Gracie Adams at the Harris rally in Wisconsin last week).
“People should not be afraid to express their opinions. The vice president supports a future for this country in which these and other freedoms are defended and protected,” rapper Eminem also said at a Barack Obama rally ten days ago. “A Trump victory would be another four years of shit. I will always be an American rather than a Republican. That’s why, this week, I’m going to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz,” actor and former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger warned in X on Thursday.
Even Mariah Carey got involved, transforming her traditional Christmas greeting with her famous All I want for Christmas is you by a video in which actress Kerry Washington intervenes to remind us that it is not yet time to receive gifts from Santa Claus, but to “vote”.
Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Anniston, Bruce Springsten, Spike Lee, Jennifer Lopez, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Demi Lovato, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hataway, Sigourney Weaver, Barbra Streisand and Robert de Niro These are other numbers that add to the list of support for Harris. So did Rufus Wainwright, who described Trump’s use of Alleluia during one of his campaign events, without his permission or that of representatives of the estate of the song’s composer, Leonard Cohen.
On the other hand, there are other names such as Mel Gibson or even Clint Eastwood, who ran as candidates in favor of the former president. Once their opinions are confirmed, the big question is whether their opinions actually have the power to determine the future of election results.
“Shortcuts” for choosing your vote
Political scientist Lluís Orriols explains to elDiario.es that, “in general terms”, citizens “do not form an opinion on which politicians or candidates are good simply by watching the programs or obtaining exhaustive information, but they instead look for shortcuts. Trusted sources that tell them what to think. “Just like when you want to buy a car, you ask someone who knows about cars. And it’s the same with computers. This makes the mentions [estrategia de comunicación que usa la imagen de figuras reconocidas para recomendar productos] they work a lot. The population constantly knows who will be the authority so they can form an opinion in a simple and inexpensive way,” reflects the expert.
Of course, the next step would be to ask “if the celebrities whether or not they are a reliable source. Whether they are or not, the political scientist believes that “they do indeed have a significant capacity for impact because they are models for many people. » In the case of Taylor Swift, “especially among the youth community, so this can generate a certain mobilization effect, which does not mean changing votes.” Lluís Orriols explains that the fact that the singer publishes a statement on her social networks means that “the electoral campaign reaches a part of the citizens who had no idea about these issues except through these channels”. “Taylor Swift talking about politics during the campaign helps ensure that some citizens are more aware than they otherwise would be,” he concludes.
Having Taylor Swift talk about politics during the campaign helps make citizens more aware than they otherwise would be.
Luis Orriols
— political scientist
In the same spirit, Paco Camas, director of public opinion research at IPSOS Spain, a multinational specialized in market research and consulting, also highlights: “Speakers who have prestigious artists or businessmen , whether it is Elon Musk with Trump or Swift with Harris, they are absolutely necessary”, especially because “the United States is the king of political spectacle, it is experienced as a kind of spectacle”.
And even more so in elections like this one, which, as he describes it, “are the closest in fifty years.” The difference between Harris and Trump is less than five points. In such a close conflict, everything counts. For both parties, it is absolutely necessary to mobilize as much as possible and get the message across to as many people as possible, from all walks of life.”
Paco Camas recalls that “one way of legitimizing candidacies is to have people who enjoy credibility and legitimacy that politicians do not have”. Concerning artists in the world of music, he is interested in the way in which by “addressing directly to emotions”, they generate “a link so strong with the public that the fact that these people issue a position gives it an entity”. At the same time, he believes that “the shocks add up”, particularly because of the way in which they invite “people to come out of abstention”. For people who are not very politically mobilized, this kind of thing can make a difference.”
Speakers that include high-profile artists or businessmen, whether it’s Elon Musk with Trump or Swift with Harris, are absolutely necessary. The United States is the king of political spectacle, there we experience it as a kind of show
Paco Camas
— Director of Political Opinion Research at IPSOS Spain
The historian of art and architecture Miguel Ángel Cajigal Vera (@elbarroquista) explains that in the United States, influence increases because there “there is not just one party A or one party B, during everyone’s primaries, everyone aligns and supports”. “In Europe, there is not much tradition of participation in partisan games,” he compares. The historian emphasizes that the link between art and politics has a long tradition and gives examples ranging from composers like Wagner or Strauss to the painter Gustave Courbet, who directly participated in the riots of the Paris Commune in the 19th century.
More recently, it highlights the role played by American artist and urban designer Frank Shepartd Fairey (OBEY), creator of the iconic poster with the phrase “Hope” that Barack Obama used during his 2008 election campaign, and by the sculptor Jeff Koons. donated up to $50,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 and continues to speak publicly politically. In the 2024 elections, he is part of the list of artists who are auctioning works to finance Harris’ candidacy, alongside Shepard Fairey himself, but also Carrie Mae Weems, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Judy Chicago.
Activate versus convince
“They are active, another thing is that they manage to convince people to change their vote. It’s more doubtful,” reflects Lluís Orriols on the room for maneuver available to artists’ statements. The first effect for the political scientist is to “bring the campaign closer to as many people as possible. The increase in registrations after approval by Taylor Swift supports the idea that mobilizing, mobilizing and successfully pushing the campaign through unusual channels. However, it’s not clear to me that because the singer “says she’s going to support Harris, many Trumpists are going to go.”
In this sense, he believes that it is even more complicated in “contexts as polarized as today, where if Swift makes a statement, counter-opinionists are already seeking to question the authority or quality from a singer’s opinion. If you’re already aligned in a political trench, just because Taylor tells you to change trenches, you’re not going to do it. » Paco Camas also defends that it is “difficult to measure the effects statistically”. “This can be observed in issues such as the debate, which is the political event par excellence and one of the manifestations that contributes most to deciding the vote,” he emphasizes, recalling that it is precisely the result of a debate which “led Biden to resign”.
Paco Camas underlines that the “very strong polarization” implies a “greater risk” for artists who decide to raise their voices. “The fact that they are positioning themselves so clearly shows how important the stakes are in these elections,” he warns, while emphasizing: “There is a much greater fear about the impact this could have on your career as an artist.
Comparing the implications in the United States with those in Spain, he assures that here “the country is heavily penalized” – a clear example is the repercussions that those who supported “No to War” had in 2003. Lluís Orriols explains that “traditionally, writers or actors participate a lot in public debate on political issues. “They had this authority.” Still looking towards Europe, Paco Camas remembers another paradigmatic case, that of Mbappé calling to vote against the far right in the French elections last June. He did so in the first and second rounds, for which he insisted on the “urgency” of voting to stop Le Pen.
“He is one of the best-known and most influential French personalities. Not only as a footballer, but also because of his origins, his family and the book he published recounting his life. A position of this type clearly has an impact and consequences in a polarized society,” believes the expert. Ultimately, the left-wing union managed to win the elections.
This Tuesday, November 5, the future of the American government will be decided, where Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will become the new president of the country. The countdown of allegations from well-known artists and personalities is coming to an end and with it, a new list of names who may or may not have exercised their calling power and civic slant in the elections.
