US President Donald Trump has demanded that Beyoncé and other celebrities be prosecuted for campaigning for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
In a post on Truth Social last night, (July 26), Trump wrote: “I’m looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), Three Million Dollars for “expenses,” to Oprah, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars to very low rated TV ‘anchor,’ Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely NOTHING!”
“These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records,” Trump added. “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted!”
Publicly shared financial records from the 2024 presidential campaign do show that Harris’s team spent significant funds on rallies and events, which featured celebrity endorsers including Beyoncé, Oprah, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry.
However, those expenses went toward support staff and production costs, and not to the celebrities themselves, as was confirmed by a New York Times investigation released in November.
.@Beyonce’s full remarks in support of Vice President Harris pic.twitter.com/CPCaFKkO9o
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 26, 2024
Beyoncé publicly supported Harris in 2024, making a speech at a Rally on Reproductive Rights and personally approving Harris’ use of ‘Freedom’, from her 2016 album ‘Lemonade’, as the official anthem for her campaign.
Harris began walking out to the song last July, when she made her first public appearance since President Joe Biden announced that he would be dropping out of the 2024 presidential election and endorsing Harris to run in his place as the Democratic nominee.
She later shared her first presidential election campaign video, soundtracked by ‘Freedom’. In the clip, Harris poses the question: “What kind of country do we want to live in?” She then goes on to say: “We choose freedom.”
Then, in August, Bey issued a cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump’s campaign to prevent them from using the same song.
Trump previously called for a “major investigation” into Bruce Springsteen and other musicians who supported Harris, after the singer gave several scathing speeches criticising the US President at his show in Manchester earlier this year. He spoke about the “corruption” and “incompetence” of the President and his administration.
Springsteen has long been a staunch critic of Donald Trump. He publicly endorsed Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election and performed at one of her rallies, and has described Trump as “mentally ill”. In addition, he opened a show just after the election with a “fighting prayer” for the US following Donald Trump‘s victory.
In other news, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have responded to the White House’s scathing reaction to the pair’s latest episode, which heavily mocked Trump.
The first episode of the long-running animated series in two years, titled Sermon On The Mount, aired on Wednesday (July 23), and took a number of personal shots at Trump, depicting him with a micro-penis and showing him in bed with Satan.
The US president was depicted with an actual photo of his face superimposed on an animated body, and the episode also made jabs at the rising Canadian tariffs, as well as the recent cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.