Kamala Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey in the key battleground state of Michigan Thursday for a “virtual rally” that saw a slate of A-list Hollywood stars join a live discussion via video chat to discuss issues in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Winfrey hosted the Unite for America event, with activist group Win with Black Women, that aimed to register people to vote and bolster Harris in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan, that are set to decide the Nov. 5 election.
Celebrities, including comedians Chris Rock and Ben Stiller, along with actors Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez, Tracee Ellis Ross and Bryan Cranston, joined the event and offered their reasons for backing Harris or peppered her with questions.
“I want to bring my daughters to the White House to meet this Black woman president,” Rock said. “I think she will make a great president and I’m ready to turn the page. All the hate and negativity, it’s gotta stop.”
The event was also filled with heart-wrenching personal stories from the audience of 400 in-person attendees and the more than 200,000 who tuned into the town hall virtually.
Ben Stiller appears on screen during a Unite for America live streaming rally with U.S. Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and U.S. television producer Oprah Winfrey in Farmington Hills, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2024.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
“I look around at these screens, Oprah, and I look at who’s in the room, and this is America,” Harris said.
Here are some of the key points that were addressed, and in-depth discussions that took place.
Harris on being a gun owner
Perhaps the most surprising moment (or at least the most talked-about) came during a discussion on gun control, when Oprah noted her surprise at learning Harris is a gun owner, a moment she revealed in last week’s debate with Republican opponent Donald Trump.
“If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot,” Harris said laughing. “Sorry. Probably shouldn’t have said that. But my staff will deal with that later.
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“I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris added, saying she supports strengthening background checks to purchase guns and reinstating a federal assault weapons ban.
U.S. Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) joins U.S. television producer Oprah Winfrey at a Unite for America live streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2024.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
Harris on taking the helm
Winfrey noted Harris’ swift transformation after President Joe Biden stepped out of the race in late July, lauding Harris for “stepping into her power.”
“You know we each have those moments in our lives when it’s time to step up,” Harris said.
Before Biden was forced out, Harris’ strength as a presidential candidate was questioned by some Democrats in Washington, including Biden. But she has revived Democrats’ chances, bringing in new fundraising and enthusiasm.
“I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose,” she said.
Harris on Roe v. Wade
Harris and Winfrey welcomed the mother and sister of a young Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill. Amber Thurman’s death, first reported Monday by ProPublica, occurred just two weeks after Georgia’s strict abortion ban was enacted in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn nationwide abortion rights.
Harris has blamed her death on Trump and a recent report deemed Thurman’s death the first “preventable” death to be confirmed as a result of Georgia’s ban.
U.S. Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) joins U.S. television producer Oprah Winfrey at a Unite for America live streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2024.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
“Amber was not a statistic, she was loved by a family, a strong family and we would have done whatever to get my baby, our baby, the help that she needed,” said Thurman’s mother, Shanette Williams. “Women around the world need to know that this was preventable.”
Thurman’s sister blamed Trump and his Supreme Court picks for her death.
“They just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number.”
Harris praised their courage in speaking out and called out a “health-care crisis” caused by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“They have no right to be in your womb,” Winfrey added.
Harris on school shootings
Natalie Griffith, a student who was shot twice last month at Apalachee High School in Georgia, joined the town hall with her parents. Her mother described to the talk show host and presidential nominee the fear she felt after learning about the gunfire at her child’s school.
“No parent should go through this,” Marilda Griffith said through tears, describing rushing out of work, then running to the school to learn if her daughter was OK. She appealed for federal action to curb gun violence.
U.S. Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) joins U.S. television producer Oprah Winfrey at a Unite for America live streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2024.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
Harris, after pointing out that she herself owns a gun, said assault-style rifles were designed to kill as many people as possible on a battlefield, and “don’t belong on the streets of a civil society.”
Harris on border security
After an audience member asked what Harris would do to promote border security, she blamed Trump for killing legislation that would have provided more funding for law enforcement at the border.
“The bill would have allowed us to have more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organizations,” Harris said. “Donald Trump called up his folks and said, ‘Don’t put that bill on the floor for a vote.’ He preferred to run on a problem instead of addressing the problem. And he put his personal political security before border security.”
Recent polls have Harris and Trump running neck-and-neck, with the election less than two months away.
— With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
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