Trump or Harris? Who celebrities are endorsing in the US presidential election

Celebrity endorsements have played an increasingly significant role during recent US presidential election campaigns, and the 2024 race for the White House is no different. According to research by Harvard University, there is “rigorous evidence that celebrity voices are incredibly powerful” in altering polling numbers. Celebrities are “uniquely positioned to empower everyday Americans", the study said. It added that online voter registration and poll worker volunteer rates were found to increase when a celebrity promoted them. “Right now, young voters have relatively low levels of trust in a lot of leaders and institutions, including traditional news media, but celebrities are often a rare exception,” Ashley Spillane, the study's author and political expert, told ABC News . This was evident in the 2020 US election when Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Joe Biden. It led to more than 35,000 people registering as voters, according to the non-profit organisation Vote.org . In 2008, Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama was found to have increased overall voter participation, with an estimated one million additional votes. Here’s a look at which famous faces have spoken out about the two major candidates: Donald Trump for the Republicans and Kamala Harris for the Democrats. Musician Kid Rock is a vocal supporter of Trump and is a regular at his rallies. The pair even play golf together. Rock performed one of his songs at the Republican National Convention in July and shouted “fight, fight” into the crowd during his gig, in reference to the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump . Following the shooting, Rock posted an eight-second video to X in which he said: “If you [expletive] with Trump, you [expletive] with me.” Also at the RNC was former wrestling and reality show star Hogan, who famously ripped off his shirt while giving the speech, as he once did in his pro wrestling days. The former WWE star spoke about the assassination attempt on Trump. “They tried to kill the next President of the United States,” he said, before ripping his shirt off and saying: “Enough was enough, run wild brother, let Trump-a-mania rule again. I tried to stay out of politics, but after everything that's happened to our country over the past four years and everything that happened last weekend, I can no longer stay silent.” The rapper and model made a surprise appearance at the RNC, where she proclaimed that the media had lied about Trump. “I’m no politician and I don’t want to be, but I do care about the truth and the truth is that the media has lied to us about Donald Trump,” she said. “I know this because for a long time, I believed those lies. I believed the left-wing propaganda that Donald Trump was a racist and I realised Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re black, white, gay or straight. It’s all love. And that’s when it hit me: These are my people. This is where I belong.” Barr, whose hit show was cancelled in 2018 after she posted a racist tweet , has been outspoken in her support of Trump. In April, she posted a skit online where she accused Joe Biden of raping her. The video was an apparent reference to E Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s. In January, a federal jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll, who accused the former president of destroying her reputation. The payout was in addition to the $5 million Trump was ordered to pay to Caroll in October when a separate jury found him guilty of defaming and sexually abusing Carroll. Barr is also known for posting conspiracy theories on social media. She recently suggested that WHO's declaration of mpox as a global health emergency was made so that the Biden government could impose lockdowns during the coming US elections. There's no denying Swift's influence on politics, so much so that Trump recently shared AI-generated photos falsely showing the pop star endorsing him. Swift addressed the incident following the presidential debate between Trump and Harris on Tuesday. "Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth," Swift posted on social media. She then added: “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” She finished her post by signing it as a “ childless cat lady ” – a reference to comments made by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, about women without children – and uploaded a photo of her and her ragdoll cat, Benjamin Button. While the global star has not explicitly endorsed Harris, she has given the Harris camp permission to use her song Freedom in her campaign. The single from Beyonce's hit 2016 album Lemonade has since seen a 1,300 per cent jump in streaming, according to Luminate, which analyses music data. In August, Beyonce's team threatened to send the Trump team a cease-and-desist letter after campaign manager Steven Cheung used a clip of Freedom on social media. The video was taken down soon after. Beyonce's mother, Tina Knowles, is also an outspoken supporter of Harris. “Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let's Go,” Knowles recently posted. As a British citizen, pop singer Charli XCX may not have a direct stake in the US elections, but her tweet in which she referred to Harris as “Brat” went viral right after the vice president announced her bid for the top job. The Harris team soon after changed the backdrop of the campaign's X account to green, the same colour as Charli's latest album, also called Brat . Brat, Charli later explained, is “just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it”. The Driver's License singer is no stranger to Harris. The pair met when Rodrigo visited the White House in 2021 to help youngsters get vaccinated during the Covid-19 pandemic. She recently shared a video of Harris criticising Trump's stance on abortion . “And we who believe in reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body, and not have their government tell them what to do!” Harris says in the video that Rodrigo shared along with four raised-hands emojis. Known for his political engagement and activism, Clooney famously wrote an op-ed in July, asking for President Biden to step down from the race for the White House. “We are not going to win in November with this president,” Clooney wrote in the New York Times. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private.” He later endorsed Harris for president, while praising Biden, who eventually dropped out of his re-election bid . “President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again,” Clooney told CNN later. “We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support vice president Harris in her historic quest.” The rapper was one of the star performers at Harris's first campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia. She performed her hit song Mamushi followed by her 2020 hit Body . “Now I know my ladies in the crowd love their bodies,” she said to the crowd, referencing the Democrats' call for bodily autonomy. “If you want to keep loving your bodies, you know who to vote for.” The pop star shared to her Instagram Stories Biden's statement endorsing Harris as the new Democratic nominee. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden's message read, which Grande shared along with a link encouraging her fans to register to vote. Soon after Biden announced he would be taking a back seat and endorsing Harris, Perry, who had just released her new single Woman's World, shared a video of herself on Instagram, lip-synching to the song. “It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it,” she said to the camera. The Oscar winner shared a post by Biden about Harris on Instagram in early July. “She is trusted and tested and she is a fierce advocate for women's rights and people of colour and her message is one of hope and unity for America at a time of great national divide,” Curtis wrote. After famously endorsing Biden in 2020, the rapper told Rolling Stone in May that she had felt betrayed and that she was not going to endorse either Biden or Trump for 2024. However, she changed her stance once Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee. “Let's go! I told y'all Kamala Harris was supposed to be the 2024 candidate,” she posted on X in July. The What About Us singer was one of the star attractions at a fund-raising Zoom call in July that temporarily broke the videoconferencing service and raised more than $1.8 million. Joining in the call from Sweden, where she had just wrapped a show and where the local time was 3am, Pink said she was “fired up” about the Harris campaign. “We are in this … and I’m just really grateful that us women are going to have a voice, and we’ve always made our voices heard, and now it’s time to just get extra loud. Let’s go. Let’s get loud,” she said. Pink later performed on the final night of the DNC, sharing the stage with her 13-year-old daughter Willow for a rendition of her 2017 hit What About Us. One of the headliners at the Democratic National Convention, Legend and Harris go a long way back. The Grammy-winning singer helped raise money for her Senate campaign as well as when she was campaigning to be the Attorney General of California. He is backing her again. “She's ready for this fight and I'm excited to help her in any way I can,” Legend posted on X. A former New York gubernatorial candidate, the Sex and the City star posted a video of herself drinking coconut juice on X soon after Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate early in August. Coconut memes and emojis have been widely used in reference to Harris following her viral 2023 video in which she spoke about respecting the needs of elders. “My mother used to give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’” Harris said in the video. Nixon accompanied her post with a coconut emoji, posting: “I'm Walzing on air! Thank you Kamala Harris.” Sorkin, creator of Emmy-winning show The West Wing , had earlier suggested in an op-ed that the Democrats should pick Republican Mitt Romney to replace Biden if they were to have any chance of defeating Trump. Sorkin later reversed course after Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee. “I take it all back. Harris for America!” he said in a message shared by Joshua Malina, one of the stars of The West Wing . A spokesperson for Sorkin later confirmed the quote to Deadline . The Atlanta rapper brought the party to Day 2 of the DNC in Chicago, performing his 2013 hit Turn Down for What during the delegates roll-call. Representing the state of Georgia, Lil Jon walked down the convention floor to a raucous reception, rapping: “DNC, turn down for what?” He then led the crowd to chants of “We're not going back”, Harris' rallying cry this election. The RnB singer returned to the DNC following her last performance in 2004. A staunch supporter of President Biden, she also recently performed at the White House to mark Juneteenth . LaBelle, 80, performed her 1978 hit You Are My Friend for the night’s in memoriam segment. Known for his political activism, the rapper performed his recent release, Fortunate , from his collaborative album, The Auditorium Vol. 1, with producer Pete Rock at the DNC. He switched up the lyrics at one point, telling the crowd: “Be fortunate, y’all, for Kamala Harris.” Common has performed at the DNC before, appearing virtually at the 2020 ceremony to perform the protest anthem Glory from the 2014 film Selma , with Legend. Glory won Best Original Song at the 2015 Oscar awards. While she famously endorsed Barack Obama for his 2008 campaign, the influential media personality has never appeared at the DNC, until this week. A surprise speaker, Winfrey referred to herself as an independent voter, and in a powerful speech, urged voters to cast their ballot for "the best of America". “Values and character matter most of all. In leadership and in life. And more than anything, you know this is true, decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024," she said. She also took a swipe at Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance's viral "childless cat ladies" comment. “When a house is on fire, we don’t ask whose house it is,” Winfrey said. “If the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too." Then, she added: “Soon, and very soon, we’re going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, two idealistic, energetic immigrants … grew up to become the 47th president of the United States." The actress and writer is a close friend of the vice president whose earlier video, in which she cooks a dosa, a South Indian dish with Harris, was referred to by Trump in an attempt to slur Harris . “I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black,” Trump had said. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?” Taking the stage at the DNC, Kaling introduced herself as "the woman who courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video". She then spoke about Harris's fearlessness and optimism, and her kindness as a senator. Returning to the time she made dosa with Harris, Kaling said she knew Harris, who has a reputation for being a good cook, had made a better dish. But the then-senator encouraged her with kind words, she said. “When she finally bit into my dosa, she looked at me and said ‘really good!’ And then never took another bite again,” she joked. Known for her political activism, the Scandal star delivered a powerful speech at the DNC. "I am not here tonight as an actor. I am here as a mother, as a daughter, as a proud union member, as the granddaughter of immigrants, as a black woman descendent of enslaved people," she said. "I am here tonight because I am an American and because I'm a voter, because we the people are stronger when all our voices are heard." She then invited Tony Goldwyn, who played President Fitzgerald Grant on Scandal , on stage to chant: "When we fight, we win." Washington then introduced Harris's grandnieces Amara and Leila on stage to teach everyone how to pronounce "Kamala". "It's come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle or pretend to struggle with the proper pronunciation of our future president's name," Washington said. "Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight, we are going to help everyone get it right." The actress and producer has been an outspoken supporter of reproductive rights and produced a 2018 documentary, Reversing Roe , about abortion rights and access in America. She made a brief appearance during the delegates' roll call on day two and then took the stage on the final day, drawing connections between her upbringing and that of Harris. "Kamala and I were able to see beyond the horizon because our families supported our big dreams," she said. "As Americans, we're all part of one big family. And as family, we have to have each other's back. We have to support each other's dreams because Kamala's success is our success." She then ended her speech with a new Spanish tagline for Harris. Adjusting the Spanish phrase "Si se puede", which means "Yes, we can," she shouted: "She se puede". Famously known for Emmy-winning role in the comedy Veep , in which she played an American vice president, Louis-Dreyfus hosted a panel of eight female governors during the DNC. She joked that the Republican vice presidential candidate Vance might refer to the gathering as "a coven of semi-menstruating witches". Later that evening Louis-Dreyfus appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, telling the host she doesn’t see a parallel between her fictional character, Selina Meyer, and Harris. “Let me explain to you, on Veep I played a narcissistic, megalomaniac sociopath and that is not Kamala Harris,” she said, adding: “It might be another candidate in the race.” In August, American rockers Foo Fighters were livid when their 1988 hit, My Hero , was used at a Trump rally in Arizona. The band's representative told CNN that they were not asked for permission, adding that any royalties received “as a result of this use will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign". When Trump’s spokesman Cheung insisted the campaign had obtained the requisite rights, Foo Fighters' representative insisted: “Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were they would not have granted it."

Trump or Harris? Who celebrities are endorsing in the US presidential election

As the race for the White House intensifies, The National rounds up a list of the most politically outspoken stars, and who they support