FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris looked for a boost with persuadable and less-motivated voters as she participated in a livestream Thursday evening with former talk show host Oprah Winfrey to focus on her plans to cut costs for the middle class, restore a national right to abortion and address gun violence.
The event, billed as “Unite for America,” and hosted by Winfrey from suburban Michigan, one of this election’s key battlegrounds, sought to tap into the same energy as long-running Winfrey’s talk show, which drove bestseller lists and allowed celebrities to share their softer side and everyday people to share stories of struggle and inspiration.
It leaned on celebrities like Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep, but also the stories of ordinary voters to promote Harris’ message over the course of 90 minutes and to draw a contrast with former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee. More than 300,000 people were watching the Harris campaign livestream on YouTube alone and the event was also being streamed on other major social media platforms.
“We each have those moments in our lives when it’s time to step up,” Harris said when Winfrey asked about her overnight transformation as she went from President Joe Biden’s running mate to being the Democratic nominee in her own right after he suddenly dropped out in July. “I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose.”
Winfrey told Harris it looked as if a “veil dropped” and she “stepped into your power.”
At one point Harris reminded viewers that she owns a gun — which surprised Winfrey — saying, “If somebody’s breaking into my house they’re gettin’ shot.” She added, “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Harris was given the chance to talk about her plans to reduce the cost of housing and lower taxes for the middle class, as she took questions from voters in Michigan and Virginia.
Oprah recognized Hadley Duvall in the audience, a 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child.
“You can’t wait until it’s too late to care about reproductive healthcare, because then it’s too late,” said Duvall, who is featured in a new Harris campaign ad. “Thank you for hearing us and seeing us when the Supreme Court won’t,” Duvall added in praise of Harris.
Harris and Winfrey also 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.
“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.
Harris praised their courage in speaking out and called out a “healthcare crisis” caused by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “They have no right to be in your womb,” added Winfrey.
Natalie Griffith, a student who was shot twice last month at Apalachee High School in Georgia, joined with her parents. Her mother described 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.
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.”
