Why are celebrities helping to normalize Trump? (gross)

Celebs seem a little too comfortable next to Trump compared to last time

It’s getting harder to ignore that Trump has way more pubic support from celebrities now than he did the last time he was in office. And as much as I love celebrity gossip–this is more than that, because it’s about the power that celebrity culture has and how that power is being used to normalize Trump’s dangerous platform and make it seem normal.

So why are celebs like Kim Kardashian, Carrie Underwood, and even Snoop Dogg aligning themselves with Trump? Especially when they were quiet or even critical only eight years ago?

What’s changed

The last time Trump was in office, his celebrity supporters were a lot more of a joke. There was Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Rosanne Barr–you get the idea.

But now things look very different. Carrie Underwood just performed at Trump’s inauguration. Kim Kardashian shared a photo of Melania Trump. The list goes on.

The shift becomes even more glaring when you compare it to 2017. Back then, there were more celebrities at protests against Trump’s inauguration than at his actual event. Compare that to Obama who famously had Beyoncé, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson at his inauguration (which you know must have pissed off Trump).

This time around, there’s more celebrities who seem comfortable standing next to Trump. And that is what’s so concerning.

Where’s the celeb resistance?

Something else that’s glaringly absent are all the vocal celebrities we had back in 2017. Remember the Women’s March when we had Cher, Madonna, Katy Perry, and more showing up to denounce Trump and his administration? This year’s People’s March in DC (which as someone active in activist organizations in the US, wasn’t even on my radar) didn’t have even a single major celebrity participant. It feels like celebrities have decided that speaking out is too much of a risk now.

One thing people tell me a lot is that celebrity endorsements don’t matter, but the data doesn’t support that. We know that celebrity endorsements give people–and politicians–credibility, relatability, and emotional resonance. When someone like Carrie Underwood performs for Trump, it sends a message that he’s someone worth supporting, even with his godawful policies.

It’s not parasocial to admit that celebrities hold cultural weight, and how they choose to use it has implications.

Normalizing Trump

When celebrities align with Trump, it’s not just him as a person they’re supporting. They’re legitimizing his entire platform–and that platform is dangerous.

ICE raids. Executive orders targeting trans and nonbinary people. Attacking birthright citizenship. And that’s only his first day (since I first wrote this he’s now ended the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1965). These aren’t even traditional Republican policies–they’re extreme and they’re designed to harm marginalized communities.

When a celebrity like Kim Kardashian posts a picture of Melania, it softens the image of that platform. It makes people less likely to see it as dangerous and more likely to just accept it as just another part of the political landscapes. And that acceptance is dangerous.

Top-Down Normalization

Forever ago (and actually during the last Trump admin), I wrote my master’s thesis I researched how movements become normalized. I specifically was looking at how concepts like reproductive and abortion rights gain mainstream acceptance, and found two methods of how it happens. In broad terms (and with as much as I can remember without dusting off the almost 10 year old file)–there is grassroots normalization and there is top-down normalization.

So a grassroots movement can spread awareness about an issue until it gains mainstream acceptance. There is usually a slow ramp up to acceptance, where it starts with early adopters of an idea, all the way to late adopters. What you often see as well is the top-down process of normalization, where governments, institutions, and people with cultural power can help shape and direct the process of normalization.

It gets a little more messy than that, but celebrities are a textbook example of top-down normalization. And while I focused on what I would consider more positive examples of social movements in my research–it’s chilling to see how this same dynamic can work in the opposite direction.

The fact that so many celebrities now feel comfortable aligning with Trump shows just how much legitimacy his platform has gained. They’re no longer afraid that their careers will suffer for standing next to him. And that’s bad.

Now what

People ask me all the time why I care so much about what celebrities think. Honestly? I couldn’t care less about Carrie Underwood’s stance on economic policy. What I care about is the cultural power they hold. When celebrities align themselves with harmful platforms, they’re not just making a personal choice–they’re shaping public opinion. And when they choose power over values, it affects all of us.