The Harris campaign may have lacked the enthusiasm and popular support it needed to win the election, but it had more than a billion dollars to spend on rallies and paid media to try and drum up more interest.
One of the ways the Harris campaign used its enormous financial advantage over the Trump campaign was paying pop stars who appeared at her rallies to perform their hit songs and endorse her candidacy. Some such payments have been identified by other outlets, but Sludge reviewed the campaign's latest FEC disclosures, covering contributions and expenditures from mid-October through mid-November, and identified several more Harris campaign payments to celebrities.
On Election Day eve, Christina Aguilera rocked the stage at a Harris rally in Las Vegas. "Taking to the stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the singer, 43, sang a powerful rendition of her iconic hit Fighter with election-themed lyrics," the Daily Mail reported. "She looked incredible in an edgy ensemble, consisting of a black satin blouse with lace-up hot pants and fishnet stockings."
"Let's raise our voices and vote for freedom!," said Aguilera.
Three Wishes Productions, Inc., the company that owns the trademark to "Christina Aguilera" and to the singer's music, was paid $375,000 by Harris for President for campaign event entertainment on Nov. 19, according to the FEC disclosure.
Later in the evening on Election Day eve, popstar Katy Perry appeared at a Harris campaign event in Pittsburgh. Perry performed a medley of her songs and strongly endorsed Harris, who she said she has known since before she was a U.S. senator.