FARMINGTON HILLS (AFP) – Kamala Harris held a star-studded rally hosted by talk show legend Oprah Winfrey on Thursday.
Hollywood stars including Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Rock, and Ben Stiller beamed in remotely to lavish praise via screens on the Democratic vice president at the “Unite for America” event.
Sitting on a chat-show style stage, Winfrey started by asking Harris about what seemed a sudden burst in confidence – “a veil or something dropped” – after she replaced President Joe Biden as nominee.
“We each have those moments in our lives when you have to step up,” the 59-year-old Harris replied.
The pair hugged as Harris arrived on stage at the rally in Michigan, one of the seven crucial battleground states that will decide the knife-edge November 5 election.
Harris urged Americans to unite against the “powerful forces that would try to divide us”, represented by Republican former president Trump.
The Democrat then talked through her key campaign points, ranging from economy to immigration, as she faced softball questions from Winfrey.
TV superstar Winfrey, who also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, said as she introduced Harris that she felt “hope and joy rising”.
Groups including “Swifties for Harris” (made up of fans of Harris-backing pop star Taylor Swift) and “Cat Ladies for Kamala” (women mocking comments by Trump’s running mate JD Vance on childless people) tuned in remotely.
The US election is effectively neck-and-neck as Harris and Trump try to eke out every vote with 47 days left until polling day.
Harris got a boost from a New York Times/Siena poll showing her marginally ahead in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most crucial of all the swing states, but the survey also put her and Trump level nationwide.
