Democrats have long relied on celebrities to help deliver their message. Heck, Barack Obama enlisted George Clooney in the coup against Joe Biden for crying out loud. But, every election season, the media just gushes over the number of Hollywood celebrities that attend the Democratic National Convention. But, the Democrats really outdid themselves after a rumor was spread that a mystery guest would appear at the DNC on the final day of the convention.
Speculation quickly centered around Taylor Swift and/or Beyoncé, as fans on social media tracked down each singer's movements. Taylor Swift had just flown back stateside from Europe, and Beyonce was reportedly "seen" at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. When would the mystery guest appear? Would she just perform? Would she speak?
Naturally, the media was quick to help push the story. Disgraced former CNN anchor Don Lemon claimed that "sources" told him it would be either Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, or George W. Bush. It was clear that Lemon was just reporting on social media rumors, but even liberal media reporters with actual jobs reported that it looked like Beyoncé was going to appear at the convention, including from sources from "backstage" at the convention. ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, NBC were all piling on the "Beyoncé is coming to the DNC" rumor.
SUPERCUT!
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 23, 2024
Corporate media help spread #DNC’s Beyoncé disinformation pic.twitter.com/MusEhYKIAP
Heck, even TMZ "confirmed" that Beyoncé was going to perform Thursday night. They confirmed it.
She didn't, of course. But, boy, did the rumor achieve exactly what it was supposed to do. Politico couldn't contain its excitement when it reported that Kamala's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention "drew an average of 28.9 million viewers across cable television, according to Nielsen ratings — about 500,000 more viewers than tuned in to hear former President Donald Trump at the Republican convention."
Over 26 million viewers watched the fourth night of Democratic National Convention programming overall, including 6.7 million viewers in the coveted 18-54-year-old demographic, Nielsen said. The DNC also drew about an average of 3 million more viewers than last month’s RNC over the four nights — averaging 21.8 million viewers, compared to the RNC’s average of 18.9 million viewers.
For those who are not mathematically inclined, that's a difference of 1.75%.
So, the Beyonce bounce for Kamala Harris managed to get her 1.75% more viewers than Trump. That's actually really underwhelming.
And that's not even the most humiliating number for Kamala Harris. Despite Kamala getting a mere 1.75% larger audience than Donald Trump because of the Beyoncé bounce, the 2024 DNC "had an average of about 200,000 more viewers than 2020 but 8.2 million less than 2016, when 30 million people watched former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton become the first woman to accept a major party’s presidential nomination."
Imagine that. More people tuned in for Hillary's coronation eight years ago than Kamala's this past week. Kamala Harris is supposed to be the amalgamation of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. A woman of color accepted the Democratic Party's nomination this time! That's doubly historic, and yet, more people tuned in to watch Hillary back in 2016.
Ouch.
The DNC knew that teasing Beyoncé would help boost viewership and ensure that Kamala's ratings beat Trump's. Remember, as the above supercut, shows, rumors were coming from backstage at the DNC. This was intentional. And it's a telling sign of how little enthusiasm there is for Kamala when a speculative appearance by a pop star is seen as a more effective draw.
