In modern presidential campaigns in the United States, the influence of pop culture is unavoidable. Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have big names behind them to show their support.
Which “big names” support Trump?
Celebrities such as Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and Amber Rose have already expressed their support for Trump. All three played important roles at the 2024 Republican National Convention, either as singers or speakers.
During his speech at the RNC, Hogan ripped off his shirt and revealed another shirt that said “Trump Vance 2024.” He also said:
“Last week happened when they shot my hero and tried to kill the next president of the United States. Enough was enough, and I said let the Trump mania run wild, brother. Let the Trump mania start again. Let the Trump mania make America great again.
Model and entrepreneur Amber Rose not only showed her support for the former president at the RNC, she is also known for sharing posts in support of Trump on social media.
Trump is also backed by tech mogul Elon Musk, who has pledged to donate $45 million a month to a pro-Trump action committee, according to a July Wall Street Journal article. Following the assassination attempt on the former president, the billionaire shared his support on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Which “big names” are supporting Harris?
Popular celebrities from all ages have endorsed Harris. Beyoncé, Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion, Charli XCX, George Clooney and many others have expressed their support for the Vice President on social media.
Beyoncé even allowed Harris to use her song “Freedom” in her official campaign video. The song is also her entrance song at rallies, which is unusual for the superstar.
Megan Thee Stallion performed at a Harris rally in Atlanta. On stage, the rapper said:
“Now I know that my ladies in the audience love their bodies. And if you want to continue to love your bodies, you know who to vote for.”
John Legend has also publicly expressed his support for Harris. The singer published a post expressing his support for Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and said he wanted to help her in any way he could.
Which generation should be addressed with which campaign?
Based on the celebrities who have supported Trump, his campaign could appeal to the older generations. Many celebrities who support Trump are from Generation X, some are baby boomers, and even fewer are members of Generation Z. To gain more attention from younger generations, Trump recently did a live stream with popular streamer Adin Ross. Ross, 23, is one of the most recent public figures to show their support for the former president.
Harris is using marketing tactics designed to appeal to younger generations, such as Generation Z and Millennials. So far, she has used well-known celebrities and social media to attract voters. Harris’ main social media campaign page is KamalaHQ. Across all platforms, her campaign has posted current trends and popular songs.
How does each candidate use social media for their election campaign?
Trump is no stranger to using social media. According to AP, when his Twitter account was suspended in 2021, he had more than 57,000 tweets. Currently, the main form of social media that Trump posts on is his platform, Truth Social. This platform is similar to X and allows him to share messages with his followers. Besides public rallies, this is the main way Trump communicates with his supporters. Since his campaign began in November 2022, Trump has posted on Truth Social about 29 times a day, according to Business Insider.
Kamala Harris has been very active on social media since entering the presidential race, posting over 70 times on TikTok alone since July 21. The Harris campaign has also seized on the memes about her and is using them to boost social media engagement.
Her TikTok page alone has over 3.5 million followers. Recently, the phrase “Kamala is such a brat” started trending following British singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s public support. Following Joe Biden’s support for Kamala Harris, English singer-songwriter Charli XCX posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter with the comment, “Kamala IS a brat.” The post received over 300,000 likes and 50,000 reposts. As a result, @kamalaHQ changed its social media header to show a brat-themed photo.
“Brat” refers to English singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s 2024 album. Despite its usually negative connotation, Charli XCX interprets her new album “Brat” as something positive. According to Charli, a brat is “the girl who is a little bit messy, likes to party, and maybe says stupid things sometimes.” This term has gained attention online for the summer of 2024, with many social media users talking about a “Brat Summer.” This has led to online edits and memes being created of the current vice president, many of which feature songs from Charli XCX’s “Brat” album.
There are also other memes about Harris that she has used to promote her campaign, the most important of which revolves around coconut trees.
This is evident from a speech in which Harris said:
“None of us live in a silo. Everything is in context,” she continued. “My mother used to say to us – she would sometimes give us a hard time – ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’ You exist in the context of everything you live in and what came before you.”
Many users on X and TikTok are creating videos and remixes of popular songs with the phrase, “You think you fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of everything you live in and everything that came before you.” Harris’ official X account for the campaign even changed its name to “Providing Context,” referencing the meme.
These strategies led to a coalition of 17 youth-led groups endorsing Harris in the presidential election on Friday, July 26, according to the Associated Press.
How other politicians have used pop culture
Many presidential candidates have tried to use pop culture to attract the attention of younger voters, but this can often backfire.
During her 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a rally:
“I don’t know who invented Pokémon Go, but I’m trying to figure out how we can get them to allow Pokémon Go at the ballot box.”
Clinton referenced the popular mobile game to appeal to younger voters, but this backfired and led to ridicule from the public and the media.
During his presidency, Barack Obama managed to successfully integrate pop culture into his public image. Obama was known for occasionally appearing on late-night television shows. According to Vox, Obama’s appearance on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show marked the first time a sitting president appeared on a late-night television show. Towards the end of his presidency, he even appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, participating in a popular segment in which celebrities read mean tweets about themselves.
During his presidency, he started a tradition of creating a playlist each year to share with his followers, a tradition he continues to this day. This allowed his followers to connect with him by seeing what songs and musicians he liked.
Things like this have made Obama what many call the first “pop culture president.”
