“To Be Fair, I Can’t Twerk”– Danica Patrick Got Paid… Absolutely Nothing… For Trump Campaign Appearances

Am I the only one that didn't know celebrities were getting paid to make appearances at political rallies? Seriously, I thought they were showing up just because they support the cause and not because the campaign was cutting them checks, effectively funneling dollars from normal, everyday people to multi-millionaires, if not billionaires. Of course, I'm talking about the Kamala Harris campaign here, who, despite losing last week's election in a certified landslide, is still sending fundraising emails to help pay off debts incurred on the campaign trail, sometimes under the guise of funding recounts in close Senate and House races, of which there is really only one of note (the Pennsylvania Senate race) and certainly doesn't need additional funding by the Harris campaign for completion. https://twitter.com/kelstrom/status/1856375285127536889 So what's the real reason the campaign continues to ask supporters for donations? Turns out, there wasn't a whole lot of fiscal responsibility happening behind the scenes... Many sources, including Newsweek, have reported that the Harris-Walz campaign is ending with at least $20 million in debt, a truly astonishing figure in all regards, but is especially more pronounced in light of them raising over $1 billion dollars. Some of the details behind this outrageous spending have been shocking to say the least, reportedly spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Call Her Daddy podcast set, $450,000 per day on ads displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere, and large sums on airplane banner ads flown over NFL stadiums to appeal to male voters. But where things get really crazy is when celebrity endorsements and appearances come around. According to reports, the Harris-Walz campaign spent insane amounts of dollars on a series of concerts and events put on in the lead up to Election Day. Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga are a few of the big names that graced a stage with the presidential hopeful, but it's the payments made to a few others that are turning heads. The Harris campaign allegedly paid millions of dollars for some celebrity appearances and performances: Oprah ($1 million), Beyonce ($10 million), Megan Thee Stallion ($5 million), Lizzo ($2.3 million), and Eminem ($1.8 million). https://twitter.com/TiffanyFong_/status/1856392343575789891 Oprah denied that she was paid by the Harris campaign but documents suggest that her production company (at least) received the 7 figure sum for a town hall. Beyonce also denied that she was paid $10 million for an endorsement and appearance. Obviously, there are so many reasons to be upset with this. First, those campaign funds came from somewhere, and while Kamala certainly had a strong donor class backing, there were a ton of small-dollar donations made by regular people that effectively got funneled to celebrities with more money than they know what to do with. Not sure if that's the wealth transfer progressives are always talking about... Second, Eminem got absolutely robbed here. Don't lowball Slim Shady like that, it's unkind. Third, I had no clue celebrities even got paid for making appearances... Yes, that might make me some naïve schmuck but be honest, when you saw an artist or movie star throw their support behind either candidate, did it ever cross your mind that they may have been paid by that candidate to say those nice things? Did you ever think that celebrities would be acting like Instagram influencers and spouting off the talking points of whatever person or company comes along with a few bucks? I certainly didn't. Even though I've never had a soft spot for celebrities, I just assumed they were toeing the metaphorical party line, cashing in on it through continued work and industry support, not physical checks from presidential candidates. Well, it turns out that while it may be the norm for the blue side to pay their celebrity endorsers, the same isn't true for the red team. Danica Patrick, the most successful female auto racer of all-time, recently let the world know exactly how much Donald Trump paid her for appearing at rallies and posting online in support of the 45th and soon to be 47th president of the United States. https://www.instagram.com/p/DB-qU2YuNG6/ Patrick was a vocal supporter of Trump towards the end of the campaign cycle despite never having previously voted herself. Naturally, she received a lot of online blowback when she made her first statement supporting Trump but was quickly brought into the inner circle of notable Trump supporters and spoke at a number of rallies. In a post on X, Patrick tore back the curtains and revealed just how much she'd been paid for all of her contributions: "All the events, rally’s, interviews, social posts….. I did for free. Actually spent a fair amount on wardrobe.   But to be fair, I can’t twerk so…. It all adds up." https://twitter.com/DanicaPatrick/status/1856403058756071592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856403058756071592%7Ctwgr%5Ee5bea89d5dfad8fa2ab30e08c61e9009cdcb82ef%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.outkick.com%2Fculture%2Fdanica-patrick-reveals-how-much-trump-team-paid-her-shows-exactly-why-dems-lost I can't pretend that I don't love this. If you have a platform and want to share your opinions, you should have the power to do that with no one standing in your way, I think we all agree on that. But if you are demanding to be paid to endorse a candidate that you then claim is the only beacon of hope to maintain our democracy, how much do you really value the cause? Sure seems like a good PR stunt/easy payday for these people and not really at all a reflection of their concerns for the American people... There is a lot to be learned from the decisive victory that Trump brought home last Tuesday but one of them has to be the insanity that goes on behind the scenes and just how disconnected some of the campaigns are to what will actually move the needle for an election. Does this seem like common sense? Yeah, it absolutely does, but when you get fully engulfed in the world of politics (I live in Northern Virginia so I deal with people who are nearly everyday) your view of the rest of society can very easily and quickly be up-ended, which seems like exactly what happened to the Harris campaign. Shoutout to Danica Patrick and any other celebrity on either side who spoke their opinions without having to be compensated for it. Even if I disagree, it's a principle I respect. https://twitter.com/DanicaPatrick/status/1854947108991984075