A former Republican Congressman has urged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle not to take sides in the “polarised” race for the White House.
A former Republican Congressman has urged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle not to take sides in the “polarised” race for the White House. Charlie Dent, who served in the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2018, also went on to claim that celebrities' endorsements ahead of the November election carry less weight than people believe.
Harry and Meghan notably did not join A-listers at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, but they have always been outspoken about US politics. Dent has now suggested that the Sussexes need to tread carefully.
“I really don't think most Americans sit up at night worrying what Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have to say about American politics, or British politics for that matter,” Dent told GB News. “I know over in the UK that the royals are meant to stay out of politics. They do that sometimes successfully, I guess, sometimes not. Queen Elizabeth was pretty careful but Charles dabbled in it a bit more than some would like.”
Dent continued, “In terms of Meghan and Harry, I don't think there are many Americans who are particularly concerned about their political opinions. Politicians in the United States believe endorsements matter, I tend to think they don't matter that much, they really don't. In fact, in some cases, they have the opposite effect, they drive people away and maybe even hurt the branding of the person doing the endorsing.”
“In a polarised country, it's not always the smartest thing in the world to take sides if you're trying to advance yourself on some cause when half the country thinks it's unpopular or vehemently disagrees with it,” he added.
Dent also claimed that businesses can avoid facing backlash by keeping quiet.
“My advice to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle [would be] I'd be somewhat circumspect,” the 64-year-old said. “I was just over in the UK a couple of weeks ago, it doesn't sound like they're particularly popular over there and I don't know if they want to do things that would make them unpopular over here.”
