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Has Harris killed the celeb endorsement? Why we may NEVER see stars campaign again after ‘offensive’ parade backfires
Watch an expert speak on the death of celebrity endorsements
KAMALA Harris has ruined the power of celebrity endorsements after her embarrassing defeat to Donald Trump, an expert claims.
Foreign politics ace Alan Mendoza told The Sun that voters are starting to see the parading around of A-list stars as "offensive" and "ridiculous."
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The Democrats seemed to call in as many celebrity endorsements as they could for the 2024 election.
Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry all performed on stage at a Harris rally as fellow musicians Lil Jon and Cardi B also made appearances.
As Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Springsteen, and even a whole host of Avengers actors also pledged their unwavering support.
Even online a bunch of famous Leftist faces piled up their social media feeds with pro-Democrat and pro-Harris statements.
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But the Democrats still fell miserably short of the 270 electoral college votes as they lost their grip on the White House.
And Mendoza, executive director for the think tank Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun that Americans may have ultimately become tired of being lectured by billionaires and the ultra-wealthy.
Mendoza said that some celebrity endorsements are fine and often crucial if your opponent has a strong lineup of them too.
What matters most, however, is how they are used.
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Mendoza told The Sun, "I think, in general, the concept of celebrity endorsements is quite ridiculous.
"We think of celebrities obviously because they're experts in their field, a singer, a football star, an actor.
"But their views on politics are no more interesting than my views on music, singing, or football.
Watch woke US TV hosts choke back tears live on air in pathetic meltdowns after Trump's historic win
"So for them to be held up by any candidate or any campaign as having some kind of special significance, is ridiculous.
"And the idea that we're having Hollywood superstars or multi-billionaires telling us who should we vote for I think most ordinary people regard that as being actually offensive."
He says Kamala appeared to "drown" potential voters in the presence of famous faces due to the sheer number of A-listers at each rally.
Many of those celebrities appeared to showcase how out-of-touch the Democrats are.
She was even slammed by a former Obama aide for wheeling out her celebrity pals to perform on the final campaign day.
It comes as...
- Kamala Harris conceded in a phone call to Donald Trump on Wednesday after refusing to speak to the media as he took the lead
- She finally emerged from hiding for a 4 pm ET concession speech where her VP pick Tim Walz was seen crying
- President Biden gave remarks on the election outcome on Thursday morning
- Biden also called Trump and invited him to the White House
- Trump took to the stage in Florida with his entire family at around 2:30 am ET on Tuesday to celebrate his win
- His running mate JD Vance called the victory the "greatest political comeback in American history"
- It came as Republicans took control of the Senate after Ted Cruz was re-elected in Texas
Another key issue Alan has with how Harris used her endorsements is who was actually endorsing her.
He labeled many of them as "the usual suspects" and says the Democrats tend to reuse the same people each term to speak to voters.
But Alan feels that Americans have started to view these regular celeb roll-outs as "boring and pointless."
Whereas he praised how the Republicans managed to bring some excitement and shock value to their endorsements.
Huge figures such as Joe Rogan and Elon Musk both heavily supported Trump during the election run-in.
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In the past, both figures have been open with their political stances, with at one point in time both slamming Trump for his views.
So when Rogan and Musk are at the forefront of Trump's endorsements it leaves a much larger impression on voters.
"This over-reliance on the same names who we know are going to back a particular brand or cause, it doesn't do any good for a campaign," Mendoza said.
"Actually, I think it does harm it as if you have a lot of endorsements it makes it seem as if your focus is on getting endorsements rather than getting votes.
"She was dangling celebrities rather than policy and suggesting that because these people are voting for me, you should vote for me too."
Republicans also set their leader up to appeal to the correct audiences on the right platforms.
Trump has done podcasts with Joe Rogan, comedian Theo Von, and the Nelk Boys in the run-up to polling day.
This gave his fans and those still undecided a chance to see Trump sit down and show off his personality and get across his policies.
On the flip side, Harris simply welcomed up her guests and let them shout about why they should vote blue or let them perform a song.
Trump's A-list backers felt like genuine supporters of his work to many whereas Harris' special guests appeared as a variety act.
Ever since Trump ran out victorious many of these celebrities have either chosen to stay silent about the result or vent out their frustrations.
She was dangling celebrities rather than policy and suggesting that because these people are voting for me, you should vote for me too
Alan Mendoza
Rapper Cardi B and model Cara Delevingne both chimed in with gloomy reactions to Trump's victory.
Cardi B - who spoke at a recent Harris rally - shared a video with her head in her hands to Instagram and a caption that read, "I hate ya'll bad."
Supermodel Delevingne also posted a bitter note to her Instagram story.
She furiously wrote, "This is gutting yes, but freeing too. We get to make every day over the next four years hell for fascists, misogynists, bigots, and liars."
Former Newsnight star Emily Maitlis also had an on-air rant as she referred to Trump as 'bats***' on live TV.
She was quickly pulled off air and her co-host was forced to apologise.
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Trump eased his way back into the White House after a four-year hiatus as he destroyed the Democrats at the polls.
He took a clean sweep on the swing states as he took all seven and is also in line to steal away the popular vote in a historic win.
Democrats 'detached from reality', expert says
DEMOCRATS have been left stunned by their huge election defeat and have proved just how dangerously detached from reality they are, an expert says.
Dr. Alan Mendoza told The Sun that Kamala Harris and her downed Dems miserably lost out to Donald Trump after heavily underestimating voters' wants and needs.
The executive director for the think tank Henry Jackson Society, said the shock factor of the dismal failure can be linked back to a few crucial errors by the Harris administration.
"They've lost connection with the American mainstream," he told The Sun.
"I think there was just a lack of understanding of what the issues on the ground were.
"Four years of Democratic Presidential rule has not made Americans think that the party is capable of presiding over great success.
"If you looked at the exit polls huge numbers of people expressed dissatisfaction with what had happened.
"If your big issues are immigration and the economy and you're talking about reproductive rights then you're not connecting with the voters on the right sense.
"So I think nationally, Democrats are going to look at this election and go 'how do we rebuild from here? What do we need to do in order to reconnect that American mainstream that clearly we've lost.'"
The other reason Mendoza says the Democrats failed so miserably is due to underestimating Trump's national appeal.
Many on the Left saw the Republican as weak opposition due to his legal battles since losing out to Joe Biden in 2020.
Harris was seen as the safe option by many voters whereas Trump was regarded as a "risk."
This attitude left the Democrats severely underestimating the power that Trump commands on the average American.
"The left have always underestimated Donald Trump. They've always thought this guy shouldn't be allowed to win," he said.
"As a result of it they got sucker punched in 2016, and they got sucker punched again today.
"What they needed to do was campaign effectively against him and connect with the American people to make them convinced that he shouldn't win and instead they didn't do that."
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