Meghan McCain asks if Clay Aiken endorsement impacted Klobuchar campaign

Does an American Idol staple of the aughts have real power when deciding the fate of an American president in a national election? Maybe so, according to Amy Klobuchar’s former campaign communications director.

Appearing Friday on former View cohost Meghan McCain’s Citizen McCain podcast, political strategist Tim Hogan fielded a question from the conservative personality about the power of reality competition star and recording artist Clay Aiken’s endorsement in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.

“My really good friend — not to name drop, but everyone knows we’re good friends — my friend, Clay Aiken, endorsed Amy Klobuchar, and he still, to this day, loves Amy Klobuchar. I just want to know: Did his endorsement make any impact for your campaign?” McCain asked Hogan through laughter.

“I became the point of contact for Clay Aiken, we’re going through the primary, everything is hectic, everyone is busy. I was like, ‘I’ll take it, give him my phone number,'” Hogan recalled. “At that time, it was a really interesting endorsement because he had endorsed [Joe] Biden, then he flipped and endorsed Klobuchar.”

Hogan, who sounded amused by the question, admitted that “in that environment, you know, you’re looking for any momentum you can get,” and that the Klobuchar campaign milked the endorsement for all it was worth.

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“Did we push Clay? Yes, we pushed Clay, heading into South Carolina,” Hogan recalled, referencing Aiken’s home region, as the American Idol season 2 star was born in Raleigh, N.C. “That’s funny!”

In February 2020, Aiken — who ran a congressional campaign in 2014 — published an essay for USA Today, endorsing Senator Klobuchar over Biden weeks before Klobuchar suspended her campaign in March.

“For 2020, for Democrats, for America, Amy Klobuchar is the answer,” Aiken wrote. “That may sound a bit surprising to hear from someone who has, before now, been publicly supportive of a different candidate in this year’s Democratic primary race. But, it is a position I now state with full confidence. In this year’s race for the White House, Sen. Amy Klobuchar Minnesota is the candidate we need.”

Since finishing in second place on American Idol season 2 in 2003, Aiken released six full-length albums and multiple singles, including “This Is the Night,” his debut solo single that reached No. 1 in the United States.

Listen to Hogan and McCain discuss Aiken on the Citizen McCain episode above.