Meghan Markle endorsing Kamala Harris for President would have a negative impact on both women as other endorsements roll in for the Democratic hopeful.
The Duchess of Sussex has spoken in glowing terms about the vice president, who also has the support of some major figures Meghan respects.
On Wednesday, for example, actress Kerry Washington posted a video tribute to Harris tagged “I’m with her.” Washington and Meghan met in September, 2023, and the duchess once described the star’s portrayal of Olivia Pope, in Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal, as her “fiercest” female character.
Beyoncé, who famously messaged Meghan after her Oprah Winfrey interview, is yet to formally endorse Harris but did give her permission to use her track Freedom throughout the campaign.
It all begs the question, should Meghan progress down the path opened up by other stars she admires and get behind the Democratic Party‘s new hope.
Edward Coram James, PR expert and chief executive of digital marketing agency Go Up, told Newsweek a Meghan endorsement would play badly for both women.
“I don’t think so for her and I don’t think for Kamala Harris,” he said.
The Impact of an Endorsement on Kamala Harris
“I think it would have a negative impact on Kamala,” Coram James said. “The people that like Meghan Markle will probably already like and be voting for Kamala Harris.
“There’s only a small pool of people who like Meghan Markle who tend to be very progressive-leaning young people anyway.
“Those people had a problem with Biden. On first blush, it doesn’t look like that problem is being carried over to Kamala, so it looks like unless Kamala makes some sort of misstep it looks like they’ve got those people in the bag.”
Harris also has other high profile endorsements rolling in and appears to have already alighted on a major cultural reference point—Charlie XCX and her album Brat.
if Kamala is BRAT, I’m BRAT 🍏🥥 #imwithher pic.twitter.com/eK9jOjWGnf
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) July 24, 2024
Charlie Tweeted “Kamala is Brat” while Harris made her profile background picture the album’s cover art with “Kamala” replacing the word “Brat.”
“Actually Charlie XCX and that kind of person have already gone out and endorsed Kamala,” Coram James said. “And loads of other people will, so that demographic that Meghan Markle could have spoken to are already being spoken to by the likes of Charlie XCX.
“So the only thing Meghan could bring to the table is negative because there’s a group of people who dislike her so much that her going and endorsing Kamala will have a bigger effect on dissuading people who dislike Meghan than persuading people who like Meghan.”
Meghan’s capacity to deliver a swing away from a candidate she endorsed was demonstrated in recent polling for Newsweek conducted by Redfield & Wilton before Joe Biden pulled out of the presidential race.
Around 20 percent of U.S. adults said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Meghan and Harry compared with 21 percent who would be more likely, while 48 percent said it would make no difference.
The Impact of an Endorsement on Meghan
In 2020, Meghan urged Americans to go out and support Michelle Obama‘s When All Women Vote initiative, which was pitched as neutral while targeting a demographic more likely to vote against Donald Trump.
However, her comments caused a backlash in the media at the time because of perceptions they might impact the monarchy’s reputation for impartiality.
Since then, Meghan and Harry’s reputations collapsed in America following the release of his book, Spare, but have rallied in the year and a half since.
“From a reputation point of view she needs to stay out of politics for a while now,” Coram James said.
“There were a couple of polls earlier this year that suggest, in the U.S. at least, her reputation has recovered slightly.
“That syncs in almost perfectly with her stopping doing controversial stuff. I know on one level the royal family isn’t blissful at all but one of the difficulties she experienced is that a lot of it seemed a little bit political.
“From an optics point of view, it seemed like someone with very progressive politics trying to force the royal family to also follow those progressive politics and getting upset when they didn’t.
“That was part of the reason she was so unpopular. That and seeming to wage war against her husband’s family also isn’t ideal either.
“Her past forays into anything that has looked even slightly political have caused her popularity to drop.
“Since she has taken her foot off the accelerator on that, her popularity has increased a little bit. I think from her point of view going out and endorsing any one political candidate isn’t going to do her brand any good at all.”
Afua Hagan, a prominent U.K. based royal commentator, told Newsweek Harry and Meghan should stick to positive messages and not spark the controversy that would come with an endorsement.
“I think they should not get involved because it just feeds the culture war,” she said. “It just feeds the trolls, so they should just carry on with their lives and get on with just having fun.”
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
