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President Donald Trump criticized Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris over highly paid celebrity endorsements during her presidential campaign.
Trump questioned the reports of massive payments in a Truth Social post on Saturday that addressed the controversy.
“Are the Democrats allowed to pay $11,000,000, $2,000,000, and $500,000 to get the ENDORSEMENT of Beyoncé, Oprah, and Reverend Al? I don’t think so! Beyoncé didn’t sing, Oprah didn’t do much of anything (she called it ‘expenses’), and Al is just a third rate Con Man,” he wrote.
“So what is going on here??? Totally against the law, and I have heard there are many others!!!” Trump concluded.
While initial reports claimed that Oprah was paid $1 million for her production with Harris, a later report noted the production company was paid nearly $2.5 million for the town hall. Oprah claimed she was not personally paid for the event.
Singer Beyoncé appeared at a Harris rally in Houston, Texas, but did not perform.
“I’m not here as a celebrity,” Beyoncé said at the rally. “I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother, a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
The musician’s production company was paid. USA Today revealed that the Harris “presidential campaign paid Beyoncé’s production company $165,000, according to newly released records from the Federal Election Commission” earlier in December.
Newsweek noted that “the Washington Free Beacon reported in November that the Harris campaign donated two payments of $250,000 to Reverend Al Sharpton’s nonprofit National Action Network, weeks before the MSNBC host conducted his interview with the vice president on October 20. Sharpton held rallies for Harris three days after his interview with the vice president aired.”
Much controversy continues over whether the Harris campaign paid certain celebrities and how much, though the overall campaign blew through more than $1 billion from July to November, ending $20 million in debt, according to The Hill.