Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris, will it impact the general public?
The nominees for the US Presidential election race took part in their first televised debate and... it's got Kent talking?
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
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00:00In the early hours of this morning, a US debate was held between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
00:06Around a month ago, Donald Trump shared deepfake AI pictures of Taylor Swift endorsing him.
00:12But following this recent debate, she came out on Instagram to set the record straight.
00:16Taylor Swift mentioned that she noticed these fake videos and the spread of misinformation,
00:21stating that she felt that she needed to be transparent and share her real views.
00:26The question is, would a celebrity endorsement of a politician make a difference to people
00:30and their decisions to vote here in Kent?
00:33Or do people think that their opinion should be based on their own views and values?
00:37I think that particularly we should have our own viewpoint,
00:41formed from our own lifestyle and our own experiences in life.
00:47I think we make our minds up on lots of different things,
00:51so perhaps endorsements might add to it a bit,
00:54but they're not the most important thing.
00:56The most important thing is to listen to what the candidate has to say
00:59and read their manifesto and make your own mind up.
01:01Yeah, definitely. I think people shouldn't pay too much attention to celebrity culture.
01:07It's all a bit exaggerated and they should make their own reasoned decisions
01:12by reading the news and cluing themselves up on everything.
01:17No, I don't think I could.
01:19It's something completely different with politics and celebrities.
01:22I don't think those two can be combined.
01:24I spoke to councillor Theresa Murray to get her viewpoint on celebrity endorsements
01:29and whether she believes if it is valuable to an election.
01:32Because actually, particularly younger women,
01:34are one of the groups least likely to vote in any democracy.
01:38So the fact that Taylor Swift appeals to younger women
01:42and she's saying that voting is important and that they ought to support Kamala Harris,
01:46I don't think it's harmful.
01:48Hopefully it opens people's minds and gets them thinking.
01:52Bringing people along with you and sharing views and ideas
01:56in all the different forums that are open to us these days,
01:59I think is a good thing and I welcome it.
02:01And if Taylor Swift wants to endorse the Labour Party, I'd be delighted.
02:06So some celebrity endorsements can be powerful,
02:08especially while stars are trending in the media.
02:11While some can be persuaded by a famous face,
02:14others prefer to stick to views made without any influences.
02:18The presidential race will continue until 5 November
02:21when one of these two will take the top spot through voting.