Should celebrities, athletes or companies talk politics? What Americans say in poll

Before the 2024 election, a slew of A-list celebrities and star athletes publicly endorsed either Vice President Kamala Harris or President-elect Donald Trump.

Among them were Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Brett Favre, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jason Aldean and Dennis Quaid.

It turns out, few Americans are keen on the idea of them wading into the realm of politics, according to recent polling.

In an Associated Press-NORC poll, just 24% of respondents said they approved of celebrities “speaking out on political issues,” while 26% said they approved of professional athletes discussing politics.

Meanwhile, larger shares of respondents disapproved of celebrities and athletes weighing in on political issues — 39% and 36%, respectively.

About the same share, 37%, said they neither approved or disapproved.

Conducted between Dec. 5 and 9, the poll sampled 1,251 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.

The poll also asked respondents for their thoughts on businesses making statements on political issues. Here, opinions differed significantly depending on the size of the businesses.

When it came to large corporations, just 25% said they approved of them speaking out on politics, while a plurality, 40%, said they disapproved. Meanwhile, 35% said they neither approved nor disapproved.

In contrast, a plurality of respondents, 43%, said they approved of small businesses weighing in on political issues, while just 20% said they disapproved. Thirty-six percent said they were neither in support or opposed to this.

The poll comes one month after Trump defeated Harris in the presidential election, sending him back to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term.

It also comes amid a long-running debate on the significance of celebrity endorsements.

Some election experts believe endorsements from highly influential celebrities, like Swift, can have an impact on voters, according to previous reporting from McClatchy News.

But others are of the opinion that endorsements in general have lost their importance.

“I think people are just a little more cynical now,” Richard Groper, a politics professor at California State University at Los Angeles, said.

This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Should celebrities, athletes or companies talk politics? What Americans say in poll."