Kamala Harris has Scarlett Johansson. Donald Trump has Scarlett Johnson, chair of the Ozaukee County Moms for Liberty.
The two women with very similar names offer a snapshot of the different surrogate pools for Trump and Harris. Johnson, the woman supporting Trump, is a Wisconsin conservative education activist and failed school board candidate, while Johansson is an internationally known movie star who has been on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list.
Harris has been a magnet for Hollywood’s elite, attracting dozens of major celebrity endorsements that bring with them massive followings — which, in turn, can bring more enthusiasm and even contributions, helping to juice the Democratic base with Election Day just over a month away.
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Johansson, for instance, attended a Harris fundraiser this week, while the lesser-known Johnson was among the featured surrogates on hand as Trump kicked off a multicity bus tour in the key swing state of Wisconsin.
Johnson was joined by a handful of what are generally considered backbench members of Congress. On the fifth and final day of the tour, the campaign will be joined by some higher-profile political names, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Harris’ campaign, on the other hand, boasts supporters like Oprah Winfrey, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and last week hosted a video town hall for Harris in the swing state of Michigan, which featured a wide variety of A-list celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
Trump is backed by a handful of well-known celebrities, including Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, Elon Musk, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and rapper Lil Wayne, but generally the star power behind Trump — himself one of the biggest celebrities in the world — pales in comparison with that of those backing Harris’ bid for the White House.
The courting of celebrity endorsements is a long-running tradition in presidential politics and one that Democrats generally win. But in the process, Democrats can open themselves up to an easy line of attack from Republicans: Democrats cater to Hollywood, not average Americans.
“Patriot, Comrade Kamala is putting together a RADICAL LEFT DREAM TEAM,” Trump wrote in a fundraising email last week after Harris did an interview with Winfrey. “She’s got HOLLYWOOD HACKS like Oprah Winfrey and Jamie Lee Curtis raising MILLIONS for her campaign.”
Both have endorsed Harris, but it’s unclear how much money, if any, the two have raised for her campaign.
Harris’ campaign has tried to downplay the role celebrities play in her campaign, telling reporters during the Democratic convention that “we’re not going to be a celebrity-driven campaign.”
In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was also heavy on celebrity endorsements, with pop superstar Katy Perry memorably performing at the Democratic convention. Clinton, of course, lost to Trump, and the Harris campaign’s comments are a nod to the fact that it is wary about being perceived as out of touch with the average voter.
Neither the Trump nor Harris campaigns responded to requests for comment on this article.
This election cycle, celebrity endorsers have been uniquely attracted to Harris, who snagged their support in the weeks after President Joe Biden announced he was no longer seeking re-election. Many politically involved celebrities had grown weary of Biden’s campaign, especially after a disastrous June debate performance, but they quickly got on board with Harris when she became the party’s presumptive nominee.
One of Harris’ biggest endorsements has come from pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Swift backed Harris after her first debate with Trump, calling her a “steady-handed, gifted leader.” She did so after Trump falsely re-posted on his social media site, Truth Social, an artificial intelligence-generated image that made it look as though Swift had endorsed his campaign, which she did not do.
“I ACCEPT,” Trump posted above the AI-generated picture.
Swift criticized the fake posting, saying it was part of the reason she is backing Harris’ campaign.
Since then, Trump has distanced himself from the original fake post after he was asked whether he was concerned Swift would sue. He claimed someone else published the post, which has not been removed from his social media platform.
Even as he downplayed Harris’ level of celebrity endorsements, Trump has tried to use people with celebrity status to appeal to specific voter blocs. He has used rappers to court Black voters, and last month he used a rally in Pennsylvania to announce the support of the Puerto Rican reggaeton star Anuel AA, who encouraged Puerto Ricans to “vote for Trump.”
A Harvard University study released last month focused on celebrities’ ability to get out the vote and encourage voter participation. Celebrity involvement, the study concluded, is helpful in those areas.
“While some polling shows that people claim they aren’t influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful,” according to the study.
It added that celebrities “are uniquely positioned to empower everyday Americans to use their voices and exercise their civil rights.”
Trump has largely missed out on that celebrity bump, but he has still found a way to ride the coattails of high-profile Harris endorsements by, at times, making his own news criticizing them.
Shortly after Swift backed Harris, Trump said she would “probably pay a price” for the endorsement, and five days later on Truth Social he made his bluntest and most direct attack on Swift.
“I hate Taylor Swift” he posted.
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