By Alexander Cruickshanks

The US election has come to its final day, and we all wait with bated breath to see how the pendulum swings.

In this dog fight Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have pulled out every trick in the book to win over votes from live QandA’s to trips to McDonalds.

Celebrity endorsements are also a tool that have been used for the purpose of boosting votes but do they actually work? One huge endorsement for Harris was made by global superstar and self made billionaire Taylor  Swift. Within 24 hours of Swift’s Harris endorsement on Instagram, nearly 340,000 people had visited vote.gov, a registration website, using a custom link she created. This is a clear impact on the election that could benefit Harris.

In addition to Swift there are a long list of celebs that have come out in support for both sides. For Harris: Beyonce, Lizzo, Chris Rock, Eminem, Ben Stiller, Stephen Curry, Oprah Winfrey, Cardi B, Mark Cuban, Bad Bunny and Leonardo DiCaprio.

For Trump: Kanye West, Dr Phil, 50 Cent, Dana White, Joe Rogan, Lil Pump, Hulk Hogan, Tom Brady, Adin Ross, Lil Wayne, Nick Bosa and Elon Musk.

A long list of a variety of influential and powerful people. One factor in particular that could be a game changer is Elon Musk controlling the narrative as he is the owner of the global social media platform X, formerly known as twitter. Musk has been tweeting from his own account in support of Trump which reaches a lot people.

He has the ability to push the narrative on one of the world’s most influential weapons. He has been quote tweeting and reposting Trump rallies and in a recent tweet he quoted a report that private sector jobs have fallen for the first time since the pandemic with the tag line ‘It will get worse under a Kamala puppet regime’.

Musk isn’t hiding his views and this tweet in particular has 7.2 million views. He’s the owner of the platform, has 202.9 million followers and his tweets reach millions. Another tweet ‘Vote for an exciting future with @realDonaldTrump!’ has 6.2 million views and the influence he has is monumental.

These endorsements make the people feel like they are in on the discussion with people they idolise. Don’t underestimate the power of a celebrity voice.