Taylor Swift announced her support of Joe Biden on Instagram. Photo / Taylor Swift / Instagram
Taylor Swift last night indicated that the US election is really hotting up – by putting the oven on.
Ahead of the vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, the singer and actress took to Instagram to plug a new magazine interview and share a picture of herself holding a plate of custom-baked Democrat cookies.
"I'll be voting for Joe Biden for president", wrote Swift in the caption, as though the cookies needed explanation.
In truth, Swift's endorsement comes as no surprise: she has been open about her political inclinations since 2018, when she posted on social media that she would be voting for the Democratic candidate in the midterm elections in her home state of Tennessee.
She has steadily talked more about her beliefs since then, and during the Black Lives Matter protests in May she tweeted "We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump."
Question is, will Swift – or any celebrity, for that matter – be able to sway the result?
The idea of A-listers endorsing candidates is almost as old as the ballot box itself: Warren G. Harding had Al Jolson in the 1920s, JFK had Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin in the 1960s, and Barack Obama had Oprah Winfrey in the 2000s.
But the evidence for their impact is not as clear-cut as that may suggest. While research conducted by the University of Maryland found that Winfrey's endorsement secured Obama somewhere in the region of a million votes, another study, from Saint Joseph's university, found that friends and family were a far bigger influencing factor in where people cast their votes than either celebrities or advertising campaigns.
And then there's the anecdotal evidence we largely hold true – that celebrities tend to back left-leaning parties, yet left-leaning parties don't win every election.
Just take Jeremy Corbyn, who had the support of British celeb heavyweights such as Stormzy during the two general elections he lost to the Tories.
Anyway, you can't blame a celebrity for trying. Here's how the great and the good of Hollywood are dividing into two (and a half) camps ...
Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson
The 6'5" American footballer-turned-wrestler-turned-actor-turned-human anatomy model announced his support on Instagram, with a clip of an interview he did with Biden and Harris.
In the video he describes himself as a "centrist" and a registered Independent, who has never before endorsed a presidential candidate.
"You've done great things, Joe; you've had such an incredible career. You've led, in my opinion, with great compassion and heart and drive, but also soul," said Johnson, a man who has thighs for arms.
He is one of several celebrities in this list who has been rumoured to be running for president himself at some point. Perhaps he'll try to strong-arm Biden into adopting policies he endorses. Get it?
Cher
"Do you believe in life after Trump?" said American politician Pete Buttigieg as he introduced the singer at a virtual Democrat fundraiser in September. It sounds like Cher would say yes.
She tweets about her dislike of the current president with as many capital letters as Trump himself would use. "WE HAVE PRES.WHO CALLS VETS STUPID &LOSERS,& STEALS 1st RESPONDERS [money emoji] [sic]" she tweeted last month. "HAVE WE LOST OUT [brain emoji]."
Mark Ruffalo
Ruffalo is not exactly subtle with his politics. His Twitter account is wall-to-wall politics at the moment, with his support very firmly for Biden. Trump is a "Fascist Dictator" who acts with "deep cruelty", says Ruffalo, who frequently ends tweets with "#WithBidenWeCan".
Stephen King
Trump being in charge of nuclear weapons is "worse than any horror story I ever wrote", said King, the author of The Shining, Carrie and It.
This week he put his opinions even more succinctly on Twitter: "Trump is an a------." Biden, on the other hand, is a "decent man", according to King.
Kirstie Alley
The Cheers actress has made a decision: she simply cannot vote for a candidate who uses racist language and makes "constant" offensive gaffes. Which is why she's voting for Trump.
In an appearance on Fox News, Alley told host Sean Hannity: "When your gaffes are constantly - when he said, you know, 'You ain't black if you're not voting for me', and you know these constant gaffes that have these actual racist overtones".
She was referring to an interview Biden gave in May when he said: " "If you've got a problem figuring out whether you're for me or for Trump, then you ain't black". He has since apologised.
Apparently Trump also gets Alley's vote since he's "not a politician". If being president of the United States for four years doesn't qualify you as a politician, I don't know what will.
50 Cent
The rapper - real name Curtis James Jackson III - tweeted out his support for the president with the ringing endorsement of "I don't care [if] Trump doesn't like black people".
The tweet came with a graphic showing Biden's plan to charge 62 per cent tax on New York City's top earners, something which Jackson is less than keen on, writing: "F*** NEW YORK".
Being obsessed with the tax rate above all else is sort of what you'd expect from someone whose debut studio album was called "Get Rich or Die Tryin'".
Roseanne Barr
Barr has been quieter around this election than she was in 2016, when she said she voted for Trump and didn't "give a f***" about what people thought about it.
This was perhaps a surprise, given that in the previous presidential election she had been a candidate herself – for the left-wing Peace and Freedom Party.
The affection between Barr and Trump seemed to be mutual. After her sitcom Roseanne was revived, he called her to congratulate her on its good ratings.
When the show was later pulled off the air, after Barr sparked furore with an apparently racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, an adviser to Barack Obama, Trump took to Twitter to say the following:
Stacey Dash
The actress is probably best known for her part as Dionne Davenport in the classic 1990s teen movie Clueless, which starred Alicia Silverstone.
Both Silverstone and Dash have got involved in political movements since then, with Silverstone turning to animal rights and veganism, and Dash turning to, well, Trump.
Some celebrities have been coy about their support for the president. But not Dash. She's been snapped posing with Trump, and advertises her support with #WomenforTrump on Twitter.
Jon Voight
Midnight Cowboy actor, Oscar winner and Angelina Jolie's dad Jon Voight is a big fan of Trump, who he calls "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln".
It seems Trump returns the respect: he bestowed Voight with the National Medal of Arts at the end of last year.
Kid Rock
He's not just voting for Trump, he's rocking for him too. Last month he headlined a Trump rally in his home state of Michigan. Donald was there too – Donald Trump Jr, that is.
Rock has got involved with several politicians over the years. In 2016, he backed Ben Carson over Trump in the primaries, and in 2012, his song Born Free was the official song for Mitt Romney's bid for the candidacy. He's also supported Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama. It seems he likes politicians quite a lot as a breed. Which is rare.
6ix9ine
The American rapper (whose name is pronounced "six nine") said he would vote for Trump in an interview he did with the New York Times after being released from prison where he was serving a sentence for charges related to gang crime.
6ix9ine, real name Daniel Hernandez, says he gets compared to the president "every day" because of the way he has become well-known through controversy. How often Trump is compared to rainbow-haired, heavily-tattooed 6ix9ine is unknown.
Kanye West
Who is supporting ... himself. Although the rapper has previously worn a red MAGA cap, he withdrew his support for Trump this year when he decided to launch his own presidential campaign (slogan: Ye For President).
His manifesto is pretty vague, with just 10 ideas. Number one? Bring back prayers in American state schools.
West will not win the presidency – because it is impossible for him to do so. His name is only on the ballot in 12 states.
His campaign might, therefore, seem like a total waste of time. But could there be clever tactics at play? Some have speculated that West is running a spoiler campaign, deliberately drawing votes away from Biden to help the Republicans win.
Perhaps he's still Team Trump after all.
Elon Musk (maybe)
The tech entrepreneur has a very public bromance with West, which in July extended to supporting his presidential bid.
But a few days after sending the above tweet, Musk seemed to withdraw his support after someone pointed out that West was against vaccinations and abortion. In a now-deleted tweet, Musk said: "We may have more differences of opinion than I anticipated."
Then Musk U-turned on the U-turn and told US publication Page Six that he did support West, and that some of his proposed policies make more sense after explanation. Although he thinks 2024 would have been a better year to run.
The star has a large polyp on her vocal cord, which affects her voice.