Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell endorse Kamala Harris for US president

American pop star Billie Eilish and her brother, singer-songwriter and producer Finneas O’Connell, endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the upcoming US presidential elections.

In a video posted to their official Instagram handles on National Voter Registration Day, the artists urged their fans to check their voting status and make a plan to vote early.

“We are voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy,” Eilish said.

O’Connell added that they could not let “extremists” control their lives, freedoms and futures.

“The only way to stop them and the dangerous Project 2025 agenda is to vote and elect Kamala Harris,” he stated. Project 2025 is a political initiative published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

According to Al Jazeera, the introduction of the 900-page document claims: “The federal government is a behemoth, weaponised against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before.” The outlined goal is restoring “[the American] Republic to its original moorings”.

During the video, the ‘What Was I Made For’ singer told people to “vote like your life depends on it because it does”. Within 18 hours of it being posted, the video has amassed over two million likes and 46,000 comments.

The siblings’ endorsement of Harris comes shortly after global megastar Taylor Swift broke her silence on the elections and voiced her support for the democratic candidate, who she called a “steady-handed, gifted leader.”

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” she posted on Instagram in the minutes following a televised presidential debate that saw the candidates face off for the first time, which Swift said she had watched.

“I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift wrote.

But what difference does a celebrity endorsement make?

A 2008 Northwestern University report found Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement added a million votes to Barack Obama’s tally, Reuters detailed.

However, a 2010 North Carolina State University report found celebrity endorsements by George Clooney and Angelina Jolie did little to move the political needle.

A study published last month by Harvard’s Kennedy School said that non-profits found “higher rates of online voter registration or poll worker sign-ups when a celebrity promotes these calls to action.”

“While some polling shows that people claim they aren’t influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful,” the study stated.