On one measure at least, Kamala Harris won the US presidential election by a landslide: celebrity endorsements.

Some of the biggest names in entertainment – Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry, George Clooney, Beyoncé, Charli XCX, Will Ferrell, Harrison Ford – queued up to lend their brand, and ostensibly their fans, to the cause of making Harris the first female president of the United States.

Beyonce Knowles-Carter at a Kamala Harris campaign event in Texas last month. Credit: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg

But with Harris resoundingly beaten, you have to ask if they did more harm than good.

It certainly appears they fed into a narrative beloved of conservatives: In the Divided States of America, the Democrats are now the party of the bicoastal elites, while the Republicans speak for ordinary people in the vast middle.

Back in July, the celebrity who did most to pave the way for Harris’ tilt was George Clooney, who wrote in the New York Times urging Joe Biden to step aside, in order to “enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out”. Less than two weeks later, Biden did precisely that.

Brat pack: Kamala........

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