Trump calls for investigations into celebrity endorsements. Who endorsed Harris?
President Donald Trump said he wants a major investigation into celebrity endorsements of former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
Harris ran against Trump in a surprise shakeup election when former President Joe Biden dropped out in the face of mounting questions about his fitness for office. Despite swift support and fundraising for Harris, Trump won all of the swing states in a decisive win.
But in the early morning hours of May 19, Trump questioned whether Harris paid Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Oprah, a few of the big names who stumped for Harris in her presidential campaign.
"This was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds," Trump said on Truth Social. "IT'S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic 'entertainers,' this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system."
But the claims come without evidence, as the Federal Election Commission does not explicitly ban paid endorsements. Here is what to know about celebrities in the 2024 presidential election.
'She's no longer hot:' President Donald Trump takes aim at Taylor Swift
In a second Truth Social post later in the morning on May 19, Trump singled out Beyoncé, claiming "news reports" said that she was paid $11 million to appear at a Houston, Texas, rally in October 2024.
Beyoncé did appear at the rally with former Destiny's Child co-star Kelly Rowland to address the crowd, but she did not sing.
Federal Election Commission records show the Harris campaign paid $165,000 to Beyoncé's production company, Parkwood Production Media LLC, but there has been no evidence of an $11 million payment.
Beyoncé's mother and the Harris campaign previously denied a rumor about a $10 million payment for the star during the campaign. Tina Knowles said her daughter paid for flights for herself and her team.
Beyoncé is currently on her Cowboy Carter and Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour. Her song "Freedom," which was used by the Harris campaign, is part of her setlist.
Bruce Springsteen performed at multiple Kamala Harris rallies during the 2024 presidential election. The call for an investigation into him comes after the star spoke out about the Trump administration on a British tour earlier this month.
'My home America, the America I've written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,' said Springsteen, as USA TODAY previously reported by a livestream of the show.
'Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American spirit to rise with us, raise your voices and stand with us against authoritarianism and let freedom ring,' said Springsteen.
'There's some very weird, strange, and dangerous (expletive) going on out there right now ... In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.'
More: Bruce Springsteen doubles down after Trump calls him 'dried out prune'
Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Springsteen were just a few celebrities who endorsed Kamala Harris. Some big names stopped by virtual organizing calls like "White Dudes for Harris.'
Here are some other celebrities who endorsed Kamala Harris:
Beyoncé
Taylor Swift
Bruce Springsteen
Kerry Washington
Julia Roberts
Jennifer Lopez
Harrison Ford
Dick Van Dyke
Here are a few celebrities who endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election:
Joe Rogan
Megyn Kelly
Jason Aldean
Savannah Chrisley
Amber Rose
Caitlyn Jenner
Kid Rock
Hulk Hogan
Contributing: Chris Jordan, Joey Garrison, Caché McClay, Jay Stahl, USA TODAY Network
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What did Bruce Springsteen say about Donald Trump? POTUS wants probe
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
China Walks a Line in U.S. Trade Talks, Trying Not to Overplay Its Hand
In its high-stakes trade talks with the United States, China has been trying to strike a balance in how it wields its market clout. It controls the world's supply of rare earth metals and magnets. And it has withheld supplies of the materials — crucial ingredients in everything from cars to fighter jets — as leverage. At the same time, Beijing knows it must not overplay its hand by pushing Washington so hard that the United States feels compelled to make the long-term investments needed to break its dependence on China. This delicate dynamic was underlined in an apparent compromise the countries reached on Tuesday in London. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said China's negotiators had agreed to resume sending rare earths to American companies. The Chinese government did not confirm this. But on Wednesday afternoon, the JL Mag Rare-Earth Company, a leading magnet producer in Ganzhou, China, said in a public disclosure that it had been issued licenses by China's Ministry of Commerce for sales of nonmilitary magnet exports to the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. China has a long history of using government policy to control markets, periodically flooding countries with very low-priced Chinese supplies. That has driven many of China's overseas rare earth competitors out of business. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
Newsom and California confront Trump with a potential blueprint for Democrats
Democratic politicians have spent the last few months talking about standing up to President Donald Trump in his second term. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is among the first faced with figuring out what standing up actually looks like. Allies and opponents agree how Newsom handles the protests – including Trump's calling in the National Guard and sending in active-duty Marines over the governor's objections – will reverberate far beyond California, and long after this week. That's how Newsom is approaching what has become a fight on the streets and in the courts, only a few days after he was responding to a Trump administration effort to identify federal grants going to the state that can be canceled. Other Democratic governors have been calling Newsom, checking in, ticking through scenarios in their minds of how what's happened in California could play out at home for them, according to multiple people briefed on the conversations. Every Democratic governor signed onto a statement over the weekend calling Trump's call-up of the National Guard an 'alarming abuse of power,' but they have been treading carefully since then, their eyes on both the politics of potentially triggering Trump and on the legal concerns of how their words might be used in lawsuits they might have to bring. Newsom, people familiar with his thinking say, wants California to hold the line after some universities and law firms facing White House pressure reached concession deals with the administration. 'What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty. Your silence. To be complicit in this moment,' Newsom said in remarks released Tuesday evening. 'Do not give into him.' 'If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant – based only on suspicion or skin color – then none of us are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there,' Newsom said, reiterating accusations that Trump officials instigated and inflamed what started as peaceful protests, though there have been skirmishes and occasional violence that Newsom and others have condemned. 'This is about all of us. This is about you,' he said. 'California may be first – but it clearly won't end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.' Prev Next As obvious as Newsom's presidential ambitions are, several top Democrats say this is much more America over the next few months than any talk of the 2028 presidential primary. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, another potential 2028 candidate, has become one of the most outspoken Democrats calling attention to what he says is Trump's direct threat to democracy in his second term. Trump 'is clearly trying to scare his opposition into silence, and that is definitely one of the ways that democracies die: when people fear that they are going to face physical harm if they turn out for protests, it often causes people to stay home. That is a tried and true path for democracies to be converted into autocracies. Elections still happen, but the opposition can never amount to any kind of numbers because people fear they'll get the shit kicked out of them if they show up,' Murphy told CNN. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who acknowledged his record-breaking 25-hour Senate speech came during a different phase both for Trump and for Democrats' response, saw the faceoff the same way. 'With this president's clear authoritarian bent, lack of respect for separation of powers and violations of the law, we're in dangerous territory with still three-plus years to go. That's what California has me concerned about,' Booker said. For months, Newsom angered many Democrats by inviting Trump-friendly figures onto his podcast or taking shots at his own party for going too far on the issue of transgender athletes playing in women's sports. He tried to connect with Trump in an effort to get more federal money to rebuild after the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires at the beginning of the year and suggested he'd work with Trump on tariffs aimed at bucking up the film industry that has been fleeing California, even as other leading Democrats called for more intense pushback, like when Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a fiery speech in New Hampshire in April that, 'never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.' But the events of the last few days have rekindled the long-simmering rivalry between Trump and Newsom. Newsom dared the Trump administration in one television interview to arrest him rather than targeting immigrant children. Trump then suggested in response to a reporter's question that Newsom should be arrested. The only rationale Trump has offered for making the threat of arresting a sitting governor is because 'his primary crime is running for governor, because he's done such a bad job.' 'I like the fact that when one of Trump's henchmen threatened Newsom with arrest, he said, 'Well, come and get me, here I am.' We're not going to be afraid of Donald Trump because we have the rule of law on our side. We're standing up for the Constitution. The states are not the pawns of the federal government. The states have an independent constitutional and political existence,' said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who taught constitutional law before being elected to the House. 'Other governors should stand up for the rule of law and stand up for the rights of their people.' With some looters also taking to the streets while Trump and his deputy chief of staff refer to an 'insurrection,' the situation hasn't gone over well with every Democrat, including those who worry about playing into Trump's hands on a signature issue. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is among members of the party who have called for a more forceful condemnation of violent protesters. Newsom himself has said that those engaged in violence or attacking police officers would be prosecuted and noted that law enforcement is already reviewing videos of the events to track down more perpetrators. Even before Trump already threatened 'very heavy force' if any protesters disrupt the massive military parade he is hosting this Saturday in Washington on his 79th birthday, leaders in other centers of immigrants were expressing concern about what happens if federal agents target their communities. 'I would hope that New Yorkers will speak up and do whatever they believe is their constitutional right in a non-violent way, and if Trump tried to tamp it up, I think the people would see it for what it is,' said New York Rep. Greg Meeks. 'I would say to New Yorkers and others, 'We know what he's trying to do.'' A few Republicans have joined Democrats in expressing concern, including swing district California GOP Rep. David Valadao, who tweeted Tuesday that he is 'concerned about ongoing ICE operations through CA.' But for now, most Republican leaders have either been expressing support for Trump or staying quiet about the situation. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he couldn't speak to the legal argument about arresting Newsom, but 'he ought to be tarred and feathered.' While some Democratic strategists, including some who have kicked in with advice to Newsom in recent days, have urged a more defensive position that echoes Trump's hardline approach to immigration so that they don't give the president a fight he clearly wants, others are glad to see Newsom taking a more forceful lead on his own terms. 'Democrats need to recognize that voters are appalled by Trump's overreach on immigration – not just Democratic voters, but independent voters, libertarian leaning voters don't believe in arresting random peaceful people and separating families,' said Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 'So we shouldn't be scared of going toe-to-toe with Trump on his overreach and abuse of people's rights.'
20 minutes ago
As Trump escalates immigration fight, Democrats face high-stakes test: ANALYSIS
The standoff between Democratic leadership in deep-blue California and the Trump administration amid protests of immigration raids in Los Angeles lays bare bitter political divisions and sets the stage for the high-stakes fight at the ballot box as the midterm elections inch closer, with the 2028 presidential contest to follow not long after that. From the Oval Office, President Donald Trump promised that more cities could see raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. With that, the possibility of a sustained protest movement grows, along with the possibility of more federal intervention -- whether Democratic officials want it or not. The way Democrats proceed in this moment could affect enthusiasm for the party's candidates come midterms time, when the party is trying to reclaim power in a Washington where it has very little. For Democrats, anti-Trump sentiment is undoubtedly a mobilizing factor, and polling has suggested Democrats want their leaders to fight harder against the Republican Party. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, widely considered to be a possible 2028 presidential candidate, has positioned himself as the most prominent foil to an administration he's accused of encroaching on his state's autonomy by deploying federal troops to Los Angeles without an ask from California authorities. Newsom was also emboldened in his criticism of Trump after the president told reporters Monday it would be a "great thing" if Newsom were arrested. "The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor," Newsom posted on Instagram, along with a video of Trump's comments. "This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation -- this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism." Still, later Monday, Newsom condemned the violence in his state while appearing to place blame on the president, saying, "Have no doubt -- Violent criminals who take advantage of Trump's chaos WILL be held accountable. Our number one priority has been and will be keeping LA safe." Democratic governors stood by Newsom in a carefully worded statement that both condemned the violence that took place in Los Angeles and called Trump's actions "ineffective and dangerous." "It's important we respect the executive authority of our country's governors to manage their National Guards -- and we stand with Governor Newsom who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation," they said in the statement. Similarly, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged peaceful protest and condemned Trump's actions, telling reporters on Sunday, "What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration." The optics of violence in the streets of a major American city -- though the most destructive protests have been in a relatively small, isolated area -- with Democrats pushing back on militarized force on protesters is a fight the Trump White House, and Republicans more broadly, are willing to wage. "I think it's another reason why you're seeing the demise of the Democrat brand around the country," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Tuesday. "You got a city on fire," he added. "You got people marching with foreign flags, people marching with a Mexican flag in LA, resisting federal law, interfering with federal law. You have the governor and the mayor, both Democrats, saying they will interfere and will not uphold federal law." And while many elected Democrats will take a head-on Newsom-esque approach to confronting moves by the Trump administration, others will likely try to find less combative ways to do so. In San Francisco, which saw protests of its own related to ICE raids, Mayor Daniel Lurie centered public safety in his message about protests and has avoided mentioning Trump by name. "Everyone in this country has a right to make their voice heard peacefully," Lurie said Sunday. "But we will never tolerate violent and destructive behavior." Lurie has drawn some criticism from some corners of San Francisco for his relative silence on Trump, but others argue it allows him to stay above the fray. It remains to be seen which strategy -- Newsom's defiance or Lurie's restraint -- will resonate with voters.
