Election season covers nearly every facet of media throughout the months of primaries all the way to the general election in November. Oftentimes, other politicians, athletes, business owners and entertainers weigh in on which candidate has their vote.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s campaign has grossed more national attention than any other republican candidate. Despite an encompassing tone of anti-establishment ideology, Trump has received multiple endorsements from current and former politicians, two of which are current governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie and former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Both have made public endorsements in recent months. Both Christie and Palin advocate for Trump because of his outsider status.
Another politician, former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, has supported the Trump campaign. In fact, Giuliani has been an informal consultant to Trump in regards to his presidential bid. Giuliani alluded that there is a large group of high-profile New York and Washington-based figures with deep ties to the Republican party who are in regular touch with Trump.
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz also has an array of politicians from the GOP who support his campaign. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas and previous candidate for the 2016 primary has endorsed the Cruz campaign. Perry has been joining Ted Cruz all across the nation in an effort to support the GOP candidate.
In most recent news, former primary candidate Carly Fiorina has articulated her support for Cruz. Fiorina joined Cruz at a rally in Miami to show her support for his campaign. Fiorina stated the party needed to get behind Cruz in order to ensure Trump does not get the nomination. Cruz said he was humbled to receive her endorsement.
“Here’s the thing: We’re not going to beat Donald Trump by having our party tsk tsk over our voters. We’re going to have to beat Donald Trump at the ballot box,” said Fiorina.
In the realm of pop culture, the most recognizable star to endorse Cruz is Phil Robertson of the reality series “Duck Dynasty.” Robertson has been seen at multiple rallies and has also filmed campaign ads to show his support for Cruz.
Bernie Sanders
The most controversial endorsement for Bernie Sanders comes from Tulsi Gabbard, who recently resigned as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in order to show her support. The representative from Hawaii said that she could no longer stay neutral during the primary and instead wanted to show her utmost support for Sanders.
Prior to his campaign, Sanders was far from the pop culture realm. However, many different celebrities have endorsed the primary candidate. One of the most influential is tv-star and comedian, Sarah Silverman. She has attended multiple rallies to introduce the candidate. Silverman has also taken her support to social media, posting multiple statuses and tweets to reiterate her support for Sanders’ presidential bid.
“You know, I feel weird using words like values and morals, because those are words that have been co-opted by people who wear them as shrouds to justify terrible things, like bigotry and greed,” she said. “I’d like to take those words back tonight and use them to describe Bernie Sanders,” said Silverman.
However, one of the longest and most adamant supporters of Bernie Sanders is Killer Mike, a rapper in the group Run the Jewels. Killer Mike has supported the Sanders campaign very early on, his first declaration of his support dating all the way back to June 2015.
Since then, the rapper has continuously showed his support for Sanders. Like Silverman, he has attended many rallies to show his support. However, Killer Mike has gone the extra mile and sat down with the candidate and produced a six-part interview.
Hillary Clinton
The other democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has just as many high-profile endorsements as Sanders. Freshman senator Cory Booker, as of February, supports the Clinton campaign. This has come as a shock to many people, considering he disparaged her campaign in 2008. This time around, though, he has advocated for Hillary by pointing out that none of his colleagues in the senate have advocated for Clinton and not Sanders.
“I have a lot of love for Bernie. I value him as a colleague. I have nothing negative to say about him. But I do know that none of his colleagues in the Senate have endorsed him,” said Booker.
Clinton has many endorsements outside of Washington as well. Ellen Degeneres has advocated for Hillary Clinton, stating that she’d be a champion of LGBTQ rights, and has attended several of her fundraisers. The list of celebrities attending Clinton’s fundraisers go on, including stars such as Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Amy Poehler. Lena Dunhman and Amy Schumer have been two of the most vocal advocates for Clinton. Amy Schumer and her uncle senator Chuck Schumer have both endorsed her. Amy Schumer claimed as soon as she was introduced to Hillary, she immediately asked if there was anything she could do to support her campaign.
Dunham has been just as vocal in her support for Clinton. In addition to showing her support through social media and fundraisers, Dunham, similarly to Killer Mike with Sanders, sat down with Clinton for an interview.
Additionally, Dunham has made claims that media coverage of the Clinton campaign has been very sexist.
“The way that Hillary Clinton’s been talked about in the media is so gendered and rabidly sexist in every single portrayal, whether it’s the attacks on her personal life or the adjectives that are used to describe her clothing, we have to do a full reexamination,” said Dunham.