Polls say the race for the US presidency is tightly run between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and given many celebrity endorsements for both candidates, it is unclear who will take the win.

Te Ao Māori News asked young people at Sylvia Park Mall if they would vote for a presidential candidate endorsed by their favourite celebrity, and opinions were mixed.

“Not so much but I can see how the world is much like that now. It’s slightly corrupt, I guess the election in itself, if you have celebrities. Taylor Swift has how many followers? So that would be half of America wouldn’t it,” one man said.

Another pointed out the huge reach of celebrities and how it could sway the vote with another saying it should be based on the policies and what they believe in.

One father accompanied by his daughter, said they’d be inclined to vote based on their favourite celebrity’s endorsement.

One woman said she personally wouldn’t but understood how celebrity endorsements could influence others.

Waipapa Taumata Rau lecturer Maria Armoudian said Harris’ campaign had gained traction thanks to pop star Taylor Swift and her fanbase, following Swift’s public endorsement on social media.

The tag ‘Swifities for Kamala’ became a way for her fan base to support Taylor, appearing on merchandise and being voiced by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.

One celebrity backing Trump is tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk’s support to have Trump return to the White House is evident in the former president’s proposal to establish a government efficiency commission to audit the federal government, which he says Musk would lead.

Last week Saturday, Musk made his first appearance at one of Trump’s rallies in Pennsylvania calling out the opposition saying, “the other side want to take away your freedom of speech”.

He warned that if people don’t vote, “this could be the last election.” Their public alliance has been evident, including a discussion on the social media platform X earlier this year.

Hopeful messaging

Armoudian said Harris’s success in garnering younger voters parallels the messaging strategies used in former President Barack Obama’s campaigns.

“She delivers a kind of a hopeful message along the lines of what Barack Obama had done to where it’s not an angry message, even though there are problems. It’s a hopeful message.”

During Obama’s campaigns in 2008, the ‘Yes, we can” messaging became a viral sensation, with celebrities like will.i.am, rapper Common, and John Legend featuring excerpts from Obama’s speeches in a music video.

Another viral internet moment at the time was ‘Crush on Obama’ an viral internet video posted to YouTube reaching over 1000 views in the first five hours.

The flow-on effect of this is seen in today’s campaigns with viral trends like ‘Swifities for Kamala’, ‘Kamala is brat’ and Trump’s mugshot printed on t-shirts.

Youth vote

Earlier this year, Trump changed his mind on the banning of Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States and began advocating against the ban.

Armoudian believes it’s his way of staking a position with young people, the most frequent users of the app.

She claims cryptocurrency is another topic he has embraced as an attempt to target the youth.