The nominees for the US Presidential election race took part in their first televised debate and... it's got Kent talking?
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
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00:00In the early hours of this morning, a US debate was held between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
00:06Around a month ago, Donald Trump shared deepfake AI pictures of Taylor Swift endorsing him.
00:12But following this recent debate, she came out on Instagram to set the record straight.
00:16Taylor Swift mentioned that she noticed these fake videos and the spread of misinformation,
00:21stating that she felt that she needed to be transparent and share her real views.
00:26The question is, would a celebrity endorsement of a politician make a difference to people
00:30and their decisions to vote here in Kent?
00:33Or do people think that their opinion should be based on their own views and values?
00:37I think that particularly we should have our own viewpoint,
00:41formed from our own lifestyle and our own experiences in life.
00:47I think we make our minds up on lots of different things,
00:51so perhaps endorsements might add to it a bit,
00:54but they're not the most important thing.
00:56The most important thing is to listen to what the candidate has to say
00:59and read their manifesto and make your own mind up.
01:01Yeah, definitely. I think people shouldn't pay too much attention to celebrity culture.
01:07It's all a bit exaggerated and they should make their own reasoned decisions
01:12by reading the news and cluing themselves up on everything.
01:17No, I don't think I could.
01:19It's something completely different with politics and celebrities.
01:22I don't think those two can be combined.
01:24I spoke to councillor Theresa Murray to get her viewpoint on celebrity endorsements
01:29and whether she believes if it is valuable to an election.
01:32Because actually, particularly younger women,
01:34are one of the groups least likely to vote in any democracy.
01:38So the fact that Taylor Swift appeals to younger women
01:42and she's saying that voting is important and that they ought to support Kamala Harris,
01:46I don't think it's harmful.
01:48Hopefully it opens people's minds and gets them thinking.
01:52Bringing people along with you and sharing views and ideas
01:56in all the different forums that are open to us these days,
01:59I think is a good thing and I welcome it.
02:01And if Taylor Swift wants to endorse the Labour Party, I'd be delighted.
02:06So some celebrity endorsements can be powerful,
02:08especially while stars are trending in the media.
02:11While some can be persuaded by a famous face,
02:14others prefer to stick to views made without any influences.
02:18The presidential race will continue until 5 November
02:21when one of these two will take the top spot through voting.