Kamala Harris has Scarlett Johansson. Donald Trump has Scarlett Johnson, who is the president of the Ozaukee County Mothers for Liberty.
The two women, with very similar names, offer a good picture of the different potential surrogates for Trump and Harris: Johnson, a Trump supporter, is a conservative education activist and failed candidate for school board in Wisconsin, while Johansson is a world-famous movie star who was once named to Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list.
Ms. Harris has attracted Hollywood elites, attracted dozens of celebrity endorsements and garnered a huge following that, in turn, has generated more enthusiasm and donations to help energize the Democratic base with just over a month to go until Election Day.
Johansson, for example, attended a fundraiser for Harris this week, while the lesser-known Johnson was one of the high-profile surrogates in attendance as Trump began a multi-city bus tour in the key battleground state of Wisconsin.
Johnson was accompanied by several lawmakers generally considered to be members of Congress, and on the fifth and final day of the tour he will be joined by other high-profile politicians, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign boasts supporters like Oprah Winfrey, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and hosted a video town hall for Harris in the battleground state of Michigan last week, which was attended by a range of A-list celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
Trump has several high-profile endorsements, including rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, Elon Musk, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and rapper Lil Wayne, but despite Trump himself being one of the most famous people in the world, his star power pales in comparison to those backing Harris for the White House.
Celebrity endorsements are a longstanding tradition in presidential elections, and Democrats generally win. But in the process, Democrats can easily be attacked by Republicans who say they are pandering to Hollywood, not ordinary Americans.
“Patriots, Comrade Kamala is putting together the far-left dream team,” Trump wrote in a fundraising email last week after Harris’ interview with Winfrey. “She has Hollywood talent like Oprah Winfrey and Jamie Lee Curtis who are raising millions of dollars for her campaign.”
Both men have endorsed Harris, but it is unclear how much money they have raised for her campaign.
Harris’ campaign has sought to downplay the role of celebrities in the campaign, telling reporters during the Democratic National Convention that “we are not going to run a celebrity-led campaign.”
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign also featured prominent celebrity endorsements, with pop superstar Katy Perry memorably performing at the Democratic Convention. Clinton, of course, lost to Trump, and comments from the Harris campaign suggest they are wary of appearing out of touch with the average voter.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the Harris campaign responded to requests for comment for this article.
During this election cycle, celebrity supporters were especially drawn to Harris, who garnered her endorsement just weeks after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection. Many politically-minded celebrities had grown weary of Biden’s campaign, especially after his dismal showing in the June debate, but they quickly embraced her once she became the party’s presumptive nominee.
One of Harris’ biggest supporters is pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Swift endorsed Harris after her first debate with Trump, calling her a “solid and talented leader.” She did so after Trump mistakenly reposted an artificial intelligence-generated image on his social media site, Truth Social, that made it appear as if Swift had endorsed his campaign, which Swift has not.
“I accept,” Trump posted above the AI-generated photo.
Swift criticized the fake post and said it was one of the reasons she supported Harris’ campaign.
Trump has since distanced himself from the original fake post when asked if he was worried Swift would sue him, claiming it was posted by someone else and had not been removed from his social media platform.
While downplaying Harris’ celebrity endorsements, Trump has sought to use celebrities to appeal to certain voter groups: He has used rappers to garner support among black voters, and last month he endorsed Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Anuel AA at a rally in Pennsylvania, urging Puerto Ricans to “Vote Trump.”
A Harvard study published last month looked at celebrities’ ability to drive voter turnout and participation at the polls, concluding that celebrity engagement can help in these areas.
“While some polls have led some to claim that people are not influenced by celebrities’ opinions when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence shows that these voices are incredibly powerful,” the study said.
He added that celebrities are “uniquely positioned to help ordinary Americans speak out and exercise their civil rights.”
While Trump has largely missed out on that celebrity appeal, he still found ways to piggyback on Harris’ high-profile support, sometimes making headlines for his own criticism of her.
Shortly after Swift endorsed Harris, Trump said she “will probably pay a price” for her support, and five days later he issued his most blatant and direct attack on Swift on Truth Social.
“I hate Taylor Swift,” he posted.
