DNC Renaissance: Stars backing Harris could make Chicago the ‘party of the year’

Hollywood celebrities have long flocked to the Democratic Party‘s top campaign events in modern history. But with Vice President Kamala Harris likely to be the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden exited the race, the Democratic National Convention next month is sure to be one of the hottest places to spot several A-listers.

The excitement of a possible Harris presidency, which would make her the nation’s first woman president, has inspired Democrats of the highest caliber to fundraise millions of dollars and, in one case, even lend the vice president a song to feature in her first campaign ad.

“It’s great to have celebrity endorsers,” said Louis Perron, political scientist and consultant. “It’s always a question of how you use them strategically, what you want to try to accomplish with them. How do they fit into the overall campaign plan?”

Beyonce appears to have given support to Harris by allowing her to use the song “Freedom,” from her 2016 Lemonade album, in the first campaign ad Harris made reintroducing herself to the public as a 2024 presidential candidate.

Before that, Beyonce gave Harris tickets to her Renaissance tour last summer, as was revealed on financial disclosure reports, in another example of the friendship between the two women. It would not be surprising if Beyonce performed or appeared at the DNC in Chicago next month. During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the megacelebrity performed a campaign concert in Cleveland, Ohio.

Beyonce’s publicist did not respond to a Washington Examiner request for comment.

“I think the Democratic convention, this time, is going to be the party of the year,” said Eugene Robinson, a Washington Post columnist, on Friday’s Morning Joe. “They’ll do a whole lot better than Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock let me put it that way. I can imagine the stars who will come out.”

Robinson was referencing last week’s Republican National Convention, which featured a performance from Kid Rock and speeches from professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.

In contrast to the RNC, celebrities popular with Gen Z, such as Charli XCX, who said Harris is “brat,” have embraced the vice president’s nascent campaign. The Harris campaign used Charli XCX’s signature “brat” green color as the background inspiration for its X account.

Soccer celebrity and Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe, actress Connie Britton, and musician Pink joined the “White Women Answer the Call 2024” Zoom call in support of Harris on Thursday. The meeting raised $8.5 million, in another indication of the wide-array of stars that the campaign could tap for the convention.

As a California native, Harris has ties to some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including actor George Clooney, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes. Chicago is also the political home for former President Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, who will likely play a role at the convention after endorsing Harris on Friday.

DNC organizers have less than a month to switch from an event where Biden would have been the headliner to a more energized convention now that a Harris campaign has rejuvenated a party beset by a previous lackluster enthusiasm over Biden, 81, and his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump in late June.

Celebrity publicists said they’re being inundated with requests from clients to help out the White House now that Biden stepped aside.

“Usually I’m asking my clients,” one publicist told CNN. “Nobody had to ask. People were like, ‘What do I do, and how do I help?’”

“Joe Biden’s selfless act, combined with the kind of change and optimism and turning of the page that Kamala represents has reengaged so many people I know in this election,” producer Greg Berlanti told CNN. “And they are ready to fight for so many of the values that VP Harris has been fighting for her whole career.”

The Harris campaign pointed the Washington Examiner to the DNC team when asked about what celebrities would perform at the national gathering.

The DNC declined to reveal the celebrity lineup, but Emily Soong, a spokeswoman, said, “Democrats will offer a positive, forward-looking vision for our country that will stand in stark contrast to the backward-looking extremism that defined Donald Trump’s convention.”

Perron cautioned that while celebrities will be a major part of the DNC it shouldn’t be the main theme.

“At a convention, you have the unique attention, so you want to use this to score political points and to communicate your message to swing voters,” he said. “Because I think swing voters will ultimately decide the election. I think the youth (vote) is fine and celebrities are fine, but ultimately I think the election will be decided by swing voters. So I would orchestrate the convention to please swing voters and communicate to swing voters.”

If past conventions are any indication, celebrities are sure to descend on Chicago for the convention on Aug. 19-22. During the 2020 virtual convention, actresses such as Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus addressed viewers. The 2016 convention, which was held in person, featured performances from Boyz II Men, Demi Lovato, and Alicia Keys.

In 2008, during Barack Obama’s history-making run as the nation’s first black president, actresses Jennifer Lopez, Angela Bassett, and Anne Hathaway, as well as actor Spike Lee and singers John Legend, Dave Matthews, and Sheryl Crow, were all spotted at the convention and related events.