As Donald Trump’s lewd comments about women have been released, Hillary Clinton has secured the endorsements of many female celebrities. In a world consumed with social media, could Clinton’s celebrity surrogates be the difference in the millennial vote?
The video of Trump’s vigorously degrading comments to Billy Bush of Access Hollywood has taken the internet by storm. Many politicians and celebrities are stepping forward to retract their prior endorsements of Trump. Hillary Clinton, pictured above with Britney Spears, has an overwhelming base of support coming from Hollywood. With the use of social media in campaigns at an all time high, the use of celebrity surrogates could gain Clinton the support that she needs from the millennials.
If Clinton is able to use the celebrities’ social media outreach, Clinton could capitalize on their followers and huge fan bases.
With the current trends of equality for women gaining attention with the younger vote, Trump’s comments made in 2005 will be a significant blow to his support from millennial females. Clinton has secured the endorsements of celebrities including Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Elizabeth Banks, Drew Barrymore, Mary J. Blige, Connie Britton, Ellen DeGeneres, Lena Dunham, along with many others. Barrymore said of Clinton, “Hillary Clinton is going to be the ultimate girlboss as our next president“.
Clinton can use these women with such a massive follower base to voice a message of disdain and disgust with Trump more harshly than she can as his opposition. While Clinton can and will react to Trump’s comments by messaging on her support of women, she cannot be too harsh while remaining presidential. These famous women are hugely significant in elections. For example, Donald Trump a mere few years back was just a celebrity entrepreneur himself.
Looking forward as the election moves closer and closer, Americans can expect Hillary’s celebrity surrogates to reach out to their fan bases to amp up their support. While celebrity surrogates lack the political background and credibility of a political surrogate, Clinton may be able to beat Trump at this own game. Trump’s celebrity status gave him a huge advantage in the Republican primary in terms of name recognition and media attention. His outsider approach to politics has been lucrative for him so far but he’s losing steam as Clinton displays a huge advantage of experience. If she can combine her experience and knowledge with the outsider approach of her celebrity surrogates, she may have the grounds to capture the millennial vote.
I found this article to be very informative and insightful. In my research on this topic, I noticed that most of Hillary’s celebrity supporters were women, but I think this will become much more prevalent as Trump’s comments about women sink in. You are absolutely right that over the past decade or so there has been a noticeable “girl power” shift as more and more influential voices speak out against gender inequality. Our generation does not tolerate remarks like the ones Trump has made and I think that they will sorely affect his millennial support, especially his female millennial support. I loved the selfies that you included of Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian. This exemplifies the immense impact of social media in this election- an impact larger than ever before. Young female celebrities are proud to show their support for Hillary, and I believe it will be very positively influential in her campaign.
Clinton is able to grasp millennial voters by her use of celebrity connections. She has been able to take pictures with, post, and elaborate on her experiences with celebrities. Many candidates use celebrities to make their campaign more appealing to millennial voters. When millennial see that candidates are supported by celebrities they look up to, voters are more willing to vote for that candidate. In Hillary Clinton’s case, many female celebrities are sticking up for her and promoting her campaign. These female celebrities include Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, and many others. Kendall Jenner has been campaigning on her own about the importance of women voting and how women need to register to vote. I think it is very interesting that candidates feel that celebrities have a better connection with voters than they do, hence their use of gaining celebrity support. In my opinion, a celebrity’s support does not validate a candidate any more than my original thoughts on that candidate.