After President Trump’s victory in 2016, pro-amnesty proponents tried to mimic his success in this year’s midterm elections. Ignoring that Americans connected with his common-sense immigration policies, they assumed the president’s success was largely because of his celebrity status. As a result, pro-amnesty celebrities were sent across the country in the hope they could bring their agenda to Congress.
These celebrities attempted to win elections in Kentucky, Mississippi, and New York. Since Trump easily won in Mississippi and Kentucky, they thought they could replicate that success by relying on their star power. But Trump didn’t win because of his celebrity status. He won because people agreed with his policies, and the pro-amnesty crowd learned that the hard way.
Howard Sherman, a California native and husband of actress Sela Ward, ran for Sen. Roger Wicker’s seat in Mississippi and called for a path to citizenship for illegal aliens in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Sherman eventually lost the Democratic primary and accused the Magnolia State of being “not ready for change.”
Kentucky experienced an even more extreme personality in California musician Hank Linderman. He lived in the Golden State most of his life and worked for several rock bands, such as the Eagles, Chicago, and America. While campaigning in Kentucky’s Second Congressional District, he called for a mass amnesty that would include all “qualified” illegal aliens living in the United States prior to July 4, 2018. Linderman added that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be restructured, and he accused the agency of “violent and sexual assault” that “must stop.” He lost against the Republican incumbent and gained only 31 percent of the vote.
The pro-amnesty lobby also ran actress Cynthia Nixon in the New York gubernatorial race. She notably called ICE a “terrorist organization” and went so far as to circulate a petition demanding that ICE be abolished. Incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo easily defeated Nixon in the Democratic primary.
However, not all celebrities campaigning for office in 2018 endorsed a pro-amnesty agenda. Glenn Jacobs, who is a professional wrestler and former WWE champion known as Kane, acknowledged that the U.S. has a problem with illegal immigration in his mayoral campaign for Knox County, Tennessee. He said that illegal immigration feeds into the country’s welfare state. Unlike the others, Jacobs won his race in a landslide and is now mayor. He channeled policies that are favorable to his constituents, instead of relying on only his celebrity status to win an election.
If the other celebrity candidates focused on the interests of all their constituents instead of virtue signaling to a small minority, they may have won as well. Sherman and Linderman attempted to push pro-amnesty policies in states that favor enforcing our immigration laws, and Nixon was even too much for New York. Meanwhile, WWE star Glenn Jacobs took home a ballot box championship by focusing on issues that resonated with voters.