Support from popular public figures is usually beneficial to politicians. Stars carry the power of free press, loyal fans, and a charisma that public servants don’t typically possess.
In 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign was fueled by the energy of Hollywood support; artists like director Spike Lee made big proclamations about his potential presidency, claiming there would be “Before Barack” and “After Barack” time periods recorded in history.
It was the wrong time to rub shoulders with stars.
Hillary Clinton also opted to hang with celebs — and that support had the opposite effect on her campaign this election year. Instead of helping, it hurt. Badly. (There were other issues, too, of course.)
The final weeks of the Democratic nominee’s campaign became a Who’s Who of Liberal, Limelight-Seeking Stars. The Clinton camp deployed everyone from Stevie Wonder to Jon Bon Jovi to stump for her in battleground states. Rallies included sometimes brief appearances by Clinton, but mostly gimmicky concerts by Jay-Z and Beyoncé and others. It was a reliance on star power that put Obama’s two campaigns to shame.
Clinton and her team must have thought it was a good move, given that the Democratic candidate was struggling to reach young people and minorities in the way President Obama did. Clinton went into election night leading in many polls — then was surprised to find battleground states pivoting toward Donald Trump.
Voters were not impressed.
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President-Elect Trump ran a different campaign from the get go, something that will be studied for a long time to come. While Clinton’s many celebrity endorsements didn’t help her cause, the Republican nominee was working overtime to visit battleground states; he used Clinton’s friendships with rich celebrities to his advantage.
“We don’t need Jay Z or Beyoncé. We don’t need Jon Bon Jovi. We don’t need Lady Gaga. All we need is great ideas to make America great again,” Trump told a packed rally in Michigan the night before the election. He relied on similar messages when speaking to voters at other last-minute campaign stops.
Related: Liberals Lose it Over Trump Triumph
While Trump was happy to have celebrity endorsements from stars like Clint Eastwood and Tom Brady, he mostly relied on his own image and messages to bring in packed crowds — and it obviously worked.
Some saw the red flags in Clinton’s reliance on celebrity in the final weeks of the election. “Hillary Clinton, the Democrats and Obama and so forth have been associated with what were called the cultural elite of the United States — and therefore endorsements that come from that set, for them, probably actually reinforce perceptions among those that feel disenfranchised that it is a little bit of ‘us versus them,'” economist Larry Hatheway warned on CNBC heading into October.
Since election night, celebrities have been in a frenzy, stumped by the results and the failure of their work on behalf of Democrats. MSNBC even reported that Lena Dunham and Katy Perry were crying over Tuesday night’s results.
Many voters cast ballots feeling left behind by Washington, D.C., insiders and culture-makers in Hollywood. A vote for Trump was a vote against elitism for many. It didn’t help that Clinton threw that elitism in everyone’s face — in the form of preachy stars and corrupt politics — in the final hours of the election.
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