The pay-for-play era later gave way to this current version of celebrity political endorsements. Over the years, stars such as baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, singer Harry Belafonte, NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, soul singer James Brown, singer Sammy Davis Jr., Olympic boxer Muhammad Ali and more lent their support to presidents and candidates such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Visibility matters in politics, and the more names of note endorsing a candidate, the more opportunities there are to connect with many communities.
On Monday, Golden State Warriors and Team USA men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr closed his speech at the Democratic National Convention by saying Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump would lose the election while making Warriors guard Stephen Curry’s famous “night night” gesture. The gesture drew a tremendous ovation inside the United Center (the arena where he won three NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s) and instantly went viral on social medias
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