WASHINGTON — Oprah Winfrey and a long list of other A-list celebrities gave Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris a boost Thursday night in the critical battleground state of Michigan, hosting a livestreamed town hall designed to fire up the her base and appeal to undecided voters.
Winfrey played her familiar role of television host. But instead of the Oprah Winfrey Show, it was effectively a 90-minute campaign infomercial for Vice President Harris, who joined Winfrey on stage for a conversation 47 days before the November election.
“Can you feel it? Can you feel the joy rising in here?” Winfrey said when Harris arrived on stage in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan. Harris responded: “I can.”
“This movement is about reminding each other that we have so much more in common than what separates us,” Harris said. “This is so much bigger than me. It’s about who we are as Americans.”
About 400 spectators joined Harris and Winfrey inside the studio, and many more watched the event dubbed the “Unite for America” rally on YouTube, Facebook and other platforms. Several celebrities joined via Zoom including actor Bryan Cranston, actress Julia Roberts, actress Meryl Streep, actor Ben Stiller, comedian Chris Rock, actress Tracee Ellis Ross and singer Jennifer Lopez.