Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are both using pop culture to court voters. Here’s how

By Velvet Winter, ABC

Barely hours after Joe Biden announced he was stepping away from the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket to make way for Kamala Harris, musician Charli xcx sent out a simple tweet.

Three words.

kamala IS brat

— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024

For many, the tweet initially seemed inconsequential. But for those whose timelines had been drenched in a certain shade of green for weeks prior, it was a call to arms and a signal that the battleground for youth votes would be held in the pop culture arenas.

And both the Harris and Trump campaigns have leaned into celebrity endorsements, high-profile interviews and social media.

Here’s how they stack up.

National party conventions

In each US presidential election, the Republican and Democratic parties hold huge conventions with delegates from around the country. Technically, they exist to formally vote for the party nominee, but they also act as huge hype events.

To get the vibes flowing for their party, the major campaigns gather for days to trot out politicians, high-profile supporters and celebrities.

Republican National Convention:

The 2024 RNC was held just days after the Trump assassination attempt.

Celebrities such as comedian Russell Brand and country singer Jason Aldean were spotted at the convention.

But the first celebrity to speak at the RNC was model and reality TV star Amber Rose, who shot to notoriety in the late 2000s following a relationship with Kanye West.

Back in 2016, Rose was calling Trump an “idiot” in interviews and “hoping he never becomes president”. But by the time of the 2024 RNC, she’d changed her position, delivering a speech that claimed a Trump presidency would forge a better America for all.

Rose also featured in MAGA rapper Forgiato Blow’s parody of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby, which encouraged viewers to vote for Trump.

The fourth and final night is when the RNC pulled out its heavy celebrity hitters, with rapper Kid Rock taking to the stage to perform his 2000 single ‘American Badass’ with modified pro-Trump lyrics.

Later, former wrestler Hulk Hogan encouraged Americans to “Let Trump-a-mania run wild, brother!” and ripped off his shirt to reveal a Trump/Vance shirt.

Democratic National Convention:

Enlivened by the change in ticket, the recent DNC had more of a party atmosphere.

While the RNC’s roll call of delegate votes was a more formal affair, the DNC trotted out DJ Cassidy to spin tunes inspired by each voting state.

There were also several roll call guest stars, including rapper Lil Jon, who announced Georgia’s votes before launching into his 2013 hit Turn Down For What.

Director Spike Lee and actors Sean Astin and Wendell Pierce were also on hand to support their state’s role call.

Day three was hosted by comedian Mindy Kaling, SNL actor Kenan Thompson, musician Stevie Wonder, and Oprah Winfrey all made appearances, and John Legend performed live.

While a rumoured Beyoncé appearance never materialised, day four was still packed with special guests.

The final day of the DNC was hosted by Scandal’s Kerry Washington and featured impassioned speeches from actor Eva Longoria, comedian D L Hughley as well as performances from P!nk and The Chicks.

Outside the conventions

Beyond the major party conventions, both campaigns have been using pop culture figures and their followers to reach voters.

‘Hotties for Harris’:

Harris’s recent penchant for scripted speeches may have led Trump to say she’s scared of live interviews, but it’s also given plenty of opportunities to bring out sparkly supporters.

Harris’s first campaign rally was kicked off with a performance from rapper Megan Thee Stallion who declared: “We about to make history with the first female president, the first black female president. Let’s get this done, hotties. Hotties for Harris!”

Migos member Quavo also delivered a speech about gun violence, an issue close to his heart following the shooting death of his nephew and bandmate Takeoff in 2022.

Multiple Zoom-based rallies in support of Harris have also attracted big names. An online rally with the tongue-in-cheek name White Dudes For Harris attracted THE Dude, Big Lebowski star Jeff Bridges, as well as actors Mark Ruffalo, Mark Hamill and Bradley Whitford.

August’s Comics for Harris online fundraiser featured Nick Offerman, Ben Stiller, Kathy Griffin, John Stamos, Ed Helms, Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz.

Trump and the mansosphere:

Trump has been chasing a different youth demographic to Harris: The “manosphere”, a loose collection of incels, pick-up artists and “red-pilled” young men.

Basically, Trump and his VP pick JD Vance have been hitting the podcast circuit hard.

Back in June, Trump appeared on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, where he discussed if aliens exist (“very possible”) and the future of AI.

Then Trump popped up for an interview with Adin Ross, a popular live streamer who has previously touted his friendship with confessed misogynist Andrew Tate and has hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes on his streams.

More than 500,000 people tuned in to watch Trump talk to Ross about his policy platforms and favourite UFC actors at the livestream’s peak. During the stream, Ross presented Trump with a gold Rolex watch and a Tesla cybertruck emblazoned with a photo from his assassination attempt.

Days later Ross confirmed on a live stream that he didn’t end up giving Trump the watch, as it would have violated campaign finance laws.

Vance has also been putting in hours behind the mic, featuring on an episode of the Full Send podcast with content makers and long-time Trump supporters the Nelk Boys.

Nelk leaders Jesse Sebastiani and Kyle Forgeard have amassed more than 5 million YouTube subscribers thanks to their prank videos, including “brotests” aimed at forcing California businesses to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

For the 2024 election, The Nelk Boys are spearheading Send the Vote, a Republican turnout initiative aimed at young men with a reported US$20 million in funding.

Social media

Last US presidential election TikTok was still practically in its infancy with legions of Covid-trapped Americans flocking to the app for the first time. Now 170 million Americans use the app monthly. Despite the looming threat of a US ban, TikTok has become the platform to reach younger audiences.

AI Swifties and podcaster cameos:

Trump was an infamous tweeter before and during his time in office, but was booted from the platform after the 6 January insurrection, before being reinstated after Elon Musk took over the bird app.

But until very recently, Trump has refrained from returning to X (formally known as Twitter), preferring his own social media platform Truth Social.

It was there that Trump recently tried to concoct an endorsement from Swifties, the dedicated fans of Taylor Swift. Trump shared several images of “Swifties for Trump” with the caption “I accept” in a reference to accepting “Swift’s” endorsement.

Many were quick to point out that most of the images were AI-generated and satirical. Swift endorsed Biden and Harris’s 2020 campaign but has not yet backed either candidate this cycle.

Trump made his first foray into TikTok in early June, with a clip with UFC president Dana White. Since then, Trump’s 13 TikToks have garnered tens of millions of views. Most are clips of Trump speaking at rallies alongside videos with Ross and Paul from his podcast appearances. His official account currently has 10.6 million followers.

Vance joined TikTok at the beginning of August, launching with a video promoting his podcast with the Nelk Boys. He’s yet to crack 500,000 followers at the time of writing.

KamalaHQ and wholesome memes:

Harris campaign took Brat Summer and ran with it. Her Twitter and Tiktok HQ accounts were quickly rebranded in a particular shade of Brat green.

Harris has her own official TikTok account (@kamalaharris), where she (or more likely a social media producer) posts respectable videos of campaign rallies and endorsements from celebrities such as America Ferrera and Lance Bass. Launched shortly before officially taking over the ticket, Harris now has 4.6 million followers.

But where Harris’s TikTok game stands apart from Trump’s is the deployment of her @KamalaHQ account.

Free from the constraints of a typical politician account but still verified as official campaign communications, @KamalaHQ throws out the “they go low, we go high mantra” and says the quiet part out loud.

Swipe down and you’ll find a shady jab at Vance and his couch rumours (2.7 million views), snide gotchas (2.9 million views), and a slide show comparing Harris and Trump set to Chappell Roan (54.7 million views).

Kamala HQ also posts frequently, with almost 40 videos released just over the four days of the DNC.

Despite only having 3.8 million followers, Kamala HQ has garnered 86.5 million likes – almost 20 million more than Harris and Trump’s accounts combined.

What’s next?

With the US election slated for Tuesday 5 November, there’s still plenty of time for more political showdowns in the pop culture arena.

– ABC