As Americans braces for the return of Donald Trump, a number of star names helped put him back in the White House.
Democrats have long enjoyed a celebrity advantage over Republicans, which has grown during Trump’s rise in politics. But despite the advantage, celebrity backing is not always enough, as shown during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, as she was supported by the likes of LeBron James, Beyoncé, Jay Z, and Bruce Springsteen but was still defeated by Trump.
Among the most high-profile celebrities to back Vice President Harris during her campaign last year are Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, and Oprah Winfrey.
But which celebrities have expressed their support for the return of former President Trump and why? Here, we take a look.
Piers Morgan has said he believes Trump could “end up winning quite big” in what he described as “one of the great comebacks in political history.” During an interview with Fox News on Saturday night, the 59-year-old broadcaster said he believes “the Trump train is steaming to victory” – just as he thought back in 2016. He also said he has met many people who are “prepared” to vote for Trump “even if they don’t like him” or they didn’t vote for him last time “to stop Kamala Harris becoming president.”
Piers, who has known Trump for years and admitted that they are friends, tweeted before the election: “Anyone who thinks they know for sure what’s going to happen on Tuesday, doesn’t. With all the swing state polls so close, literally anything could happen.. including a narrow Trump or Harris win, or a landslide Trump or Harris win. My gut says Trump could end up winning big.”
American actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson voted for Trump and gave a scathing assessment of Democratic presidential nominee Harris. While walking through Los Angeles International Airport on October 24, the Braveheart actor was asked about his thoughts on the election by TMZ.
He replied: “Whoa, that’s a big question.. I don’t think it’s going to surprise anyone who I’ll vote for.” He then switched his attention to Harris as he blasted what he described as the Vice President’s “appalling track record”, saying: “I know what it’ll be like if we let her in and that ain’t good. Miserable track record – appalling track record. No policies to speak of. And she’s got the IQ of a fence post.”
Elon Musk has been an outspoken supporter of Trump, appearing at a number of rallies and even promised to hand out a $1million (£770,000) cheque each day to a registered voter in key swing states until tomorrow’s election. The owner of X, Tesla and Space X also donated roughly $75million (£58million) to American Pac, the political action committee he founded to support Trump’s campaign.
He has also been using his X posts to push voters to vote for Trump. Last month, the world’s richest man showed his “Make American Great Again” hat to a cheering crowd during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying: “As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m dark MAGA.” The billionaire wasn’t overly political in the past, despite expressing support for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2018 and making financial contributions to Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign, according to data from non-partisan research group Open Secrets.
Rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, endorsed Trump in 2016 and even visited the former president in the Oval Office during his presidency.
Last year, when asked by paparazzi whether he still supports Trump, he replied: “Yeah, of course, it’s Trump all day.”
Australian model and pop star Holly Valance helped raise million to aid Donald Trump’s campaign to return to the White House.
The one-time Neighbours actress and her billionaire husband Nick Candy are right-wing movers-and-shakers and hosted a big event in London to attract financial backing. It was attended by Donald Trump Jr, Nigel Farage and boxer Derek Chisora.
The You Tuber-turned-boxer urged his army of social media followers to vote for Trump to “quite literally save America”.
He said: “To be frank, I’m not concerned with Donald Trump’s ‘character flaws’ or what he’s done in the past. What I’m concerned with is how good a president is he, because that is his job and that’s what’s going to affect the people of this nation.
“History shows that sometimes those who challenge the system are the ones who make a difference.”
The Rocky legend compared Trump to his famous boxing character.
Also claiming he was a like like US founding father George Washington, Sly appeared in November at the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago.
“This man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump,” reported USA Today.
“We’re in the presence of a really mythical character – nobody in the world could’ve pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe,” he said just over a week after Trump’s election victory.
“When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Without him, you could imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations.”
American TV personality and author Phillip Calvin McGraw, known professionally as Dr Phil, has shown his strong support for Trump, and sat down with the former president to discuss the election in an interview earlier this year. Dr Phil also appeared at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York and said: “Lord knows he doesn’t need me to stand up for him.
“He’s tough as an old army boot. He’s got lots of enemies, different groups that are scared, and between them, they have impeached him, indicted him, raided him, railroaded him, shot him and sued him. And where is he? He is still standing.”
Another celebrity who has expressed support for Trump is Russell Brand and said during an episode of his Stay Free with Russell Brand podcast in June: “They act as if a vote for Donald Trump is almost like you’re directly voting for Armageddon …
“But I’m starting to think that no, a greater threat to democracy is this kind of technological feudalism, that tells you that it cares about you and that it’s protecting vulnerable people, all the while increasing censorship, increasing the funding of wars, increasing the division between ordinary Americans.”
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