Letter to the Editor: Celebrity endorsements
It’s 2024, and we, the United States, find ourselves in the throes of another presidential election cycle. While we can debate which candidate is better for the country, whether either candidate has the vigor or vitality to hold the office for the next four years, or whether or not the legal situations faced by Donald Trump or Joe Biden’s son Hunter affects either candidate’s electability, one facet of the now five elections since I came of voting age still sticks out to me as making little (if any) sense – celebrity endorsements.
Typically, celebrities have some skill or attribute which has allowed them to reach celebrity status. This may be a combination of natural skill and hard work, or it could be happenstance (such as the majority of the Kardashians). Regardless, if a celebrity has reached celebrity status due to their ability to write/perform songs or play basketball at a superhuman level, that gives them no special insight into how or for whom I should vote in any election. Now, I will never say that a celebrity should abstain from voicing their views or opinions, and I won't deny that having a celebrity platform may allow one to see more of the world than the average person.
If you’re the type to say that so-and-so should “just shut up and play,” I will disagree with you. At the same time, if you think that telling me that LeBron James, Ted Nugent, Billy Joel, or any other celebrity (including those who may share similar views to me) is supporting either candidate will influence my vote, you must take me for a fool. Billy Joel has no way of knowing what my life is like, or what is important to me. Jimmy Fallon has no authority to state what I should or should not care about. I can say the same about Ted Nugent and other "conservative-leaning" celebrities. Out of the entire hodgepodge of ridiculousness that was the 2016 election cycle, the Trump team actually struck a nerve with one particular ad - their "Thank you, famous actors" adverts. In this ad, a number of ‘regular Joes’ and ‘Janes’ were shown sarcastically looking into the camera and thanking celebrities for saving them from their own ignorance by telling them for whom they should vote. I do not consider myself a Republican (or a fan of Donald Trump), but this ad should have been a brilliant of the context in which we vote.
Ironically, neither party nor their candidates are immune from this strategy. Trump will parade out big-name supporters when he can. Biden will make international flights to meet with a celebrity who would probably have supported him if he’d stayed in that evening. This is an aspect of “celebrity culture” which does not receive as much attention as I feel that it should. If a famous athlete wants to spend their time and resources to talk about any issue that they feel close to, I support their rights to do so; every American has that same right. But I believe, that if we were to really think about it, we would all agree – Democrat, Republican, or other – that, while some celebrity may know more than us about a sport, dramatic acting, cooking, or comedy, perhaps they do not represent our interests in the political arena. Ergo, a presidential candidate wining and dining Hollywood multimillionaires in the hopes of gaining the votes of average middle- and lower-class Americans would hopefully not be enough to sway an election…hopefully.
Trent D. Britten, Amarillo
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Letter to the Editor: Celebrity endorsements