As the upcoming election will likely be a close call, newly eligible voters have the capacity to tip the scales. According to a poll taken by the New York Times and Siena College, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are currently tied at 48% respectively. Endorsements from public figures with predominantly Generation Z followings such as Taylor Swift and Elon Musk will contribute significantly to how Gen Z votes.
Many young women paid more than a thousand dollars to see Swift perform at her recent “Eras Tour.” Similarly, Musk has a dedicated following of young men who deify him as the posterboy for America’s technological future.
Musk endorsed Trump after the attempt on Trump’s life in July and Swift endorsed Harris in a post to her 283 million Instagram followers after the presidential debate in September.
After Swift directed her fans to Vote.org, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people register to vote, the site recorded 35,000 new registrations.
Musk endorsed Trump on X, and donated $72 million to a political action committee he created to back Trump, according to NPR.
A primary example of celebrity influence in politics is a social media group on X called “Swifties for Kamala”, which is not actually affiliated with Swift or Harris but has 3,500 volunteers who raised $165,000 between Aug. 1 and Sept. 15.
The impact that Taylor Swift has on young female voters is mirrored by the hold that Elon Musk has over men of the same generation. A poll by the Young Men’s Research Initiative (YMRI) found that 68% of surveyed men between the ages of 18 and 29 “like” Musk.
These endorsements align with the campaign strategies Trump and Harris have been executing over the course of the election cycle. A CBS news poll published on Oct. 28 revealed a gender gap in support for Harris and Trump. While 55% of women support Harris and 45% support Trump, 54% of men said they would vote for Trump and 43% of men surveyed support Kamala. Trump and Harris have each made concentrated efforts to appeal to these respective demographics. On Oct. 26, Trump sat down with Joe Rogan’s podcast, which has an 81% male audience. Harris, similarly, appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Oct. 7, which is Spotify’s top podcast for female listeners, according to Forbes.
Some political experts argue that the influence of celebrity endorsements is not significant, citing a study that found that 28% of Republican respondents view Swift positively but remain registered as Republican and do not plan to vote for Harris. Similarly, a poll taken by Quinnipiac University found that Musk’s endorsement made 21% of the surveyed voters less enthusiastic to vote for Trump and only 13% more enthusiastic.
The impact of celebrity endorsements can be traced back more than a century to Al Jolson, a popular 20th century singer and actor who endorsed Warren Harding in the 1920 presidential election, which Harding won. In more recent history, Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of former President Barack Obama had a measurable impact on the 2008 election outcome. A study conducted at Northeastern University estimated that her endorsement resulted in over one million votes for Obama.
Though the election outcome is not yet determined, celebrity endorsements have already reshaped political engagement patterns and are expected to have a notable impact on the race as a whole.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, Opinion Editor: Dakota Duran, Scene Editor: Elina Graham
