It’s amazing how every time an actor, singer or athlete endorses a presidential candidate, the news is treated as if a shockwave of Hollywood-sized proportions has been sent through D.C.
Make no mistake, celebrity endorsements matter. We live in a society where much of the power and wealth has been consolidated in the hands of people trained to play make believe or play a sport really well. Their influence was bound eventually to spread to the political realm.
But rarely do celebrities surprise us by putting their weight behind a candidate no one expected them to support. Consider the three remaining presidential candidates, and one can see certain patterns forming for what type of celebrity would support them.
Let’s start with the presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump. The few Republicans in Hollywood brave enough to speak up about their political affiliation haven’t been particularly vocal about getting behind Trump as their party’s candidate since Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out of the race in early May.
A few have come out for the billionaire mogul, though, like actor Gary Busey, who appeared on season 13 of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” In September 2015, he called Trump “sharp,” “fast” and someone who can “change the country after the last eight years.”
Trump also has received kind words from Scott Baio, Stephen Baldwin and Jon Voight, the latter of whom said in March that “Republicans need to unite behind this man.”
From the musical world, Trump has the backing of country singers Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Kenny Rogers, as well as rapper Azealia Banks. He also has a large bloc of athletic figures on his side, including former Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan, former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka.
Think of the stereotypical Trump supporter: A white, middle-aged or older male from a rural area with a lot to say and a healthy resentment toward the political establishment.
The only ones of those mentioned above who don’t entirely fit that bill are Rodman and Banks. But it makes sense when you remember Rodman’s friendship with the vaguely Trump-like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Banks’ January Twitter assertion that America is “full of s—-,” “so we may as well put a piece of s—- in the White House.”
Almost everyone in Hollywood is a Democrat. And while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ supporters fit a similar profile, there are some notable ways to distinguish their bases.
With the exception of Ronda Rousey and a few minor sports figures, very few athletes are “feelin’ the ‘Bern,'” at least publicly. It’s not shocking that athletes, who tend to make a lot of money, aren’t too keen on a candidate who once flirted with advocating for a 100 percent top marginal tax rate.
Sanders does have significant support among actors, including Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Danny Glover, Emily Ratajkowski, Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon, who has said she’s not sure she could bring herself to vote for Clinton in the general election.
This one is a little trickier, because when I think of a Sanders supporter, my mental image is a college kid who doesn’t have to pay taxes, wants “free” college and thinks Clinton is the devil. The only one in that group young enough to make sense as a Sanders fan is Ratajkowski.
The Democratic socialist has allowed uber liberal entertainment bigwigs to show their true colors. Ruffalo has advocated for more Democracy Springs protesters to be arrested for their cause, while Dawson got arrested herself at a protest in D.C.
And judging by the late March Twitter fight among Sarandon, Debra Messing and Jamie Lee Curtis, where the “Bull Durham” star called Sanders supporters “passionate, principled independents,” one can see that Sanders’ message has struck a nerve with some major entertainment industry players.
Clinton, on the other hand, has a very identifiable group of celebrity backers. She has a slew of sports and Hollywood heavyweights on her side: George and Amal Clooney, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Lena Dunham, Katy Perry, Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansson, Magic Johnson, Abby Wambach, Franco Harris, etc.
The elite of the Hollywood elite seem more than ready to declare, “I’m with Hillary.” This is the same crowd that helped boost Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008. Clooney held a fundraiser for Obama during his re-election bid in 2012, and did the same for Clinton earlier this year.
Considering that many have said that Clinton is Obama 2.0, it’s no wonder they want to maintain the status quo, as opposed to burning it down and starting over.
So unless Clooney suddenly wants to make America great again or Kid Rock decides he has been a secret socialist all along, don’t act surprised when a celebrity reveals his or her presidential preference.
Joshua Axelrod covers the intersection of entertainment and politics for the Washington Examiner.
