- As 'primary season' rages on, candidates are not just seeking the endorsements of political figures, Hollywood stars, and publication editorial boards; they're hoping to win over influencers.
- Over the last eight years, YouTubers and social media influencers have increasingly harnessed the power of their massive followings.
- While plenty of influencers shy away from political content in order to protect their follower counts, several candidates have secured endorsements from major content creators.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
With primary season in full swing, Democratic hopefuls are seeking endorsements beyond the standard political figures, Hollywood stars, and editorial boards. As Michael Bloomberg's campaign demonstrated by spending millions on a bizarre social media campaign — partnering with popular Instagram meme accounts and micro-influencers to create content — candidates value an aggressive social media presence.
As a result, influencer endorsements may play a critical role in the 2020 presidential election. Content creators are aware of this power and several have harnessed the power of their massive followings to make political statements.
Here are 13 influencers who have endorsed presidential candidates.
Trisha Paytas has voiced support for Mitt Romney and Donald Trump in the past, although she frequently admits to trolling subscribers and knowing 'nothing' about politics.
YouTuber and self-described online troll Trisha Paytas has never shied away from sharing her opinions online — and keeping her 5 million subscribers guessing about what's real.
In 2012, Paytas posted a video to her channel endorsing Mitt Romney, in which she called the candidate "super hot."
"I thought, since this is my first election voting, I would share some of my viewpoints and opinions just to, sort of, help your decision either way," Paytas told subscribers, citing Romney's appearance as her "number one" reason for the endorsement. "We haven't had a hot president since Kennedy, but we know how that ended. So I think it's time."
Weeks later, the vlogger posted a follow-up video in the wake of intense backlash from her Romney endorsement video. While she encouraged viewers to vote for whoever they wanted, she stuck by her initial Romney endorsement, noting that Barack Obama's "taxes on tanning" motivated her sudden political activism.
In 2016, Paytas posted a since-deleted video expressing support for Donald Trump and making disparaging remarks about immigrants.
However, when the clip resurfaced on Twitter in 2019, Paytas apologized with another video titled "I do NOT support Trump" in which she said she'd "never voted a day in [her] life" and knew "literally nothing" about politics.
She added that her previous Romney endorsement was "satire" and that "dumbing herself down" was a part of her brand at the time.
Paytas has not yet endorsed a candidate for the upcoming presidential election and has not responded to Insider's request for comment.
Tyler Oakley voiced his support for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and, more recently, has expressed admiration for both Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
YouTube star Tyler Oakley, who has accrued over 7 million subscribers in his decade-long vlogging career, has made political activism a core part of his online presence.
In 2015, the vlogger wrote a blog post titled "DEAR 18+ YR OLDS USA" in which he voiced his support for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
"IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THE WEALTHY SHOULD PAY HIGHER TAXES THAN THE LOWER / MIDDLE CLASS IF YOU BELIEVE WE SHOULD CUT MILITARY SPENDING
VOTE FOR BERNIE SANDERS," Oakley wrote. "I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES!!"
He went on to campaign for Hillary Clinton after she received the nomination, traveling to swing states to encourage students to participate in early voting.
The night before the 2016 election Oakley even uploaded a video to his channel with the nominee herself.
"Everything you care about is at stake in this election," Clinton said in the video.
"Women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence, climate change. If those things are important to you, you have to get out and vote," Oakley added.
To date, the video has been viewed over 730,000 times.
After the general election, the vlogger voiced his disappointment and encouraged his 6 million Twitter followers to harness their frustration and prepare for the following elections.
Accordingly, Oakley's political activism continued into 2020. In January, Oakley took to Twitter to voice his support for both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
While Oakley has not specifically endorsed either candidate, he has openly voiced his distaste for Democratic hopeful Michael Bloomberg as well as Bloomberg's influencer-focused strategy.
In recent weeks, Oakley has retweeted posts criticizing Bloomberg's past comments about the trans community and mocking the campaign's effort to recruit positive online buzz.
The YouTuber also posted a screenshot of a Wall Street Journal article detailing Bloomberg's social media efforts to his Instagram story.
"LMAO NOPE," Oakley captioned the photo. "If any of y'all trying talking to me about this man…"
Casey Neistat endorsed Hillary Clinton with a 2016 video in which he challenged other YouTubers and content creators to speak up in the weeks leading up to the election.
YouTuber Casey Neistat broke a pattern of relative political neutrality on his channel when he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. The vlogger, who boasts a following of nearly 12 million subscribers, uploaded a 3-minute video titled "who i'm voting for president."
"Hillary Clinton," he said in the opening frame of the video. "I will be voting for Hillary Clinton."
Neistat explained that he typically found politics to be divisive, but chose to weigh in due to the dire circumstances.
"I'm speaking up now because this election has very little to do with politics, policies, or legislation. This has to do with morals and principles," he said, referring to Donald Trump as a "megalomaniac driven by nothing but ego."
Neistat went on to challenge his fellow YouTubers and content creators to have a "backbone" and to use their platforms to speak up in the weeks preceding the election.
"The top 20 YouTubers reach over a billion views every single week," he said. "We have the power to activate a demographic, an electorate, that typically isn't very active, and that is young people."
As the 2020 presidential election nears, Neistat has expressed enthusiastic and continued support for former Democratic hopeful Andrew Yang. In January, the vlogger tweeted a video of Dave Chapelle endorsing Yang and encouraged his followers to caucus for the campaign.
After Yang dropped out of the race, Neistat tweeted that he "missed" the former Democratic hopeful during Wednesday night's debate and supported CNN's decision to include Yang as a political commentator.
Grace Helbig compared Donald Trump to "that asshole" from school group projects in a 2016 video endorsing Hillary Clinton.
YouTuber and actress Grace Helbig responded to Casey Neistat's call to action in 2016 by endorsing Hillary Clinton in a video posted to her channel of over 2 million subscribers.
"I will be voting for Hillary Clinton this election," Helbig said in the 9-minute video. "Donald Trump is so many things that I don't want as a representative of the country that I live in to the rest of the world."
She went on to compare Trump's confidence and rhetoric to "that asshole" who takes over group presentations in school after contributing nothing to the project.
"I just encourage you to find out for yourself what you value," she continued. "That's ultimately what this election comes down to in a lot of ways, is where your values lie."
Helbig has not publicly endorsed a 2020 candidate and did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In a recent tweet, Hannah Hart expressed her longtime support for Bernie Sanders.
YouTube star Hannah Hart, known to her 2.4 million subscribers for her "My Drunk Kitchen" comedy series, voiced her ongoing support for Bernie Sanders on Twitter.
"During the last Democratic Primary, I kept the fact that I was a @BernieSanders supporter off of my social media. This year, and this election, will be different," she wrote.
Hart went on to encourage her followers to check their voter registration status.
Elijah Daniel previously endorsed Yang before telling Insider that he'd support "anyone but Bloomberg" in 2020.
The YouTube comedian-turned-rapper took to Twitter in September of 2019 to voice his support for Andrew Yang.
"Read up on @Andrew Yang," the 26-year-old wrote. "he's the only young candidate addressing issues that nobody else is. his politics are actually good (more than just giving every american $1,000 a month), and he has a fun and transparent personality."
Since Yang has dropped out of the race, Daniel has yet to publicly endorse another candidate. However, he told Insider that he would support "anyone but [Michael] Bloomberg."
Chrissy Teigen called Elizabeth Warren "the best candidate running today."
Model, author, and Twitter phenom Chrissy Teigen is known for being consistently vocal about her politics (and hatred for Donald Trump). While Teigen spoke highly of several democratic candidates on Twitter, she shied away from an official endorsement until October of 2019, when she revealed her support for Warren in a Vanity Fair cover story.
"My favorite — I'm going to say it, we'll break the news today — is Elizabeth Warren," the former Lip Sync Battle co-host said. "She's the best candidate running today and she comes at it with joy and with sincerity and with a wealth of knowledge and experience."
Joseph Saladino, known as Joey Salads to his 2 million subscribers, has expressed continued support for Donald Trump.
Infamous YouTuber Joseph Saladino, known by his 2.7 million subscribers as Joey Salads, made a name for himself creating prank content, from faked child abductions to trolling Trump protest attendees. In 2019, however, Saladino decided to add 'politician' to his resume. Over the summer, the 27-year-old began campaigning for the Republican primary in New York's 11th district.
While he folded his bid for Congress in December, the vlogger has continued to voice his support for Donald Trump (and his distaste for Democratic hopefuls) in 2020.
Saladino frequently tweets pro-Trump videos posts criticisms of Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg (and their supporters).
Saladino recently tweeted that he felt like "fighting an entire Left Wing Mob," writing that he would visit a "Far Left College" in the near future.
In 2020, Emily Ratajkowski endorsed Bernie Sanders via a 2-minute Instagram video.
Model and Instagram influencer Emily Ratajkowski pledged her support to Bernie Sanders with a 2-minute video uploaded to her Instagram account in January.
In the clip, Ratajkowski sports a Bernie 2020 shirt and tells her 25 million followers that she plans to vote for Sanders in the upcoming election.
"What he says speaks so much to what people want. That's sort of who he, it's so much beyond just one man," the 28-year-old said in the clip. "He's consistent. He's powerful, not because of who he is as one person, but because of the way that he invigorates people and excites them."
To date, the video has been viewed nearly 4 million times.
In a January episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," podcast host Joe Rogan said he would "probably" vote for Bernie Sanders.
While comedian Joe Rogan has not cultivated a traditional 'influencer' Instagram presence, the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast host has developed a massive online following, boasting over 7.5 YouTube subscribers. Rogan, whose libertarian-leaning persona and controversial comments frequently stir up outrage online, has never shied away from engaging in political dialogue.
On a January episode of the podcast, the former "Fear Factor" host told writer Bari Weiss that he would "probably vote for Bernie" in the primary.
"You could dig up dirt on every single human being that's ever existed if you catch them in their worst moment and you magnify those moments," Rogan continued. "That said, you can't find very many with Bernie. He's been insanely consistent entire life."
The Sanders campaign publicized Rogan's endorsement, tweeting a clip featuring the podcaster's praise.
Highlighting Rogan's endorsement, however, was met with swift backlash online.
Progressive political action organization MoveOn posted a tweet that read: "It's one thing for Joe Rogan to endorse a candidate. It's another for @BernieSanders' campaign to produce a video bolstering the endorsement of someone known for promoting transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, and misogyny."
Caroline Calloway took to Instagram to announce her plans to canvass for Bernie Sanders in the spring.
In January, influencer and "scammer" Caroline Calloway announced via Instagram (where she has over 700,000 followers) that she would be canvassing for Bernie Sanders.
Calloway uploaded a photo of herself to her Instagram story with the caption: "Two of my goals for this spring are to volunteer campaigning for Bernie and to take a training course in empathetic listening so I can volunteer for a suicide hotline."
The choice to volunteer for the Sanders campaign, she told the Daily Dot, was the result of a conversation with journalist Lauren Duca.
"She asked me what I was doing on a monthly basis to give back to the causes I care about," Calloway said. "I realized all of my donations were financial, and I wanted to start volunteering my time in addition to pledging my money this year."
Anthony Fantano joked that anyone voting for Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary would receive his coveted 10/10 ranking.
Music critic and vlogger Anthony Fantano, whose channel "The Needle Drop" boasts over 2 million followers, voiced his support for Bernie Sanders via Twitter.
"Everyone who votes Bernie in the NH primary gets a 10/10," Fantano, whose 10/10 album rankings have become highly coveted, wrote.
To date, the tweet has received over 15,000 likes.
Ethan Klein voiced support for Andrew Yang before formally endorsing Bernie Sanders in February.
YouTuber and podcaster Ethan Klein, whose joint show with wife Hila Klein has amassed over 2 million subscribers, endorsed Bernie Sanders with a tweet revealing his $1,000 donation to the Sanders campaign.
"I am officially endorsing @BernieSanders for president with a $1,000 donation," the H3 Podcast host tweeted on February 11. "Although take my endorsement with a grain of salt because my qualification is that I talk about poop on a podcast all day."
Klein previously voiced support for Andrew Yang, tweeting that the former Democratic hopeful was "the only candidate" addressing looming job cuts across the US banking industry in the wake of technological efficiencies.
Source: Read Full Article