This is just sad.
During Kamala Harris’s ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign, her team spent millions of dollars on celebrity endorsements and high-profile events, including a $1 million payment to Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions. This figure, reported by the Washington Examiner, highlights the extravagant spending habits of the Harris campaign, which sought to leverage Hollywood influence to boost her candidacy.
On October 15, 2019, the Harris campaign wrote a check for $1 million to Winfrey’s company after the media mogul hosted a glitzy town hall for Harris in September. Winfrey, known for her powerful cultural influence, also made a high-profile appearance at Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia, where she delivered a glowing endorsement of the vice president. “We’re voting for values and integrity,” Winfrey declared, adding, “We’re voting for healing over hate.” However, this attempt to rally support through celebrity power proved ineffective, as Harris’s campaign ultimately failed to resonate with a broad electorate.
But Winfrey wasn’t the only celebrity on the payroll. The campaign also invested heavily in the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, a popular platform known for its candid discussions on culture and relationships. According to the Washington Examiner, Harris’s team spent six figures building a special set for her interview with host Alex Cooper, filmed in a Washington, D.C. hotel room. The campaign even shelled out significant sums for concerts in key battleground states like Detroit, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia, featuring artists such as Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Gaga.
Despite the heavy spending on high-profile events, the Harris campaign still struggled to connect with voters. Republican strategist Brad Todd remarked, “Money can’t buy you love or a good candidate.” He emphasized that while advertising and celebrity endorsements might help with visibility, they can’t overcome a weak message or a lack of substance. Harris’s campaign was criticized for failing to break away from the unpopularity of the broader Biden administration, which may have ultimately sealed her political fate.
In the end, these celebrity-driven strategies did little to change the outcome, raising questions about whether big-money endorsements can really sway voters who are searching for genuine leadership, not just star power.