Washington: Beyonce on Friday, Bruce Springsteen on Thursday, and Eminem on Wednesday. US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is trotting out celebrities in these final days of the White House race in the hope of reaching out to undecided voters, turning out voters, and keeping the momentum going.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, considered royalty in the Democratic party, have also been deployed by the Harris campaign. Obama joined both Eminem and Springsteen for their appearances, while Michelle Obama will show up with Harris later on Saturday in Michigan. Singer John Legend will take the stage for Harris on Sunday in Pennsylvania, and the band Mumford & Sons later next week.
“I’m not here as a celebrity,” the pop icon Beyonce said at a Harris rally in Houston, Texas. “I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother, a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in.”
The Houston rally in the Republican stronghold of Texas was focused on abortion rights, a leading issue for the Harris campaign.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she added. “Imagine our grandmothers; imagine what they feel right now.”
Beyonce has supported Democrats but is not known to deliver remarks at rallies. She had signalled support for Harris by allowing her campaign to use her song “Freedom” to open her rallies.
The Harris campaign’s Thursday star parade in Atlanta, battleground state Georgia, included Springsteen, of course, but also comedian Tyler Perry, filmmaker Spike Lee, and actor Samuel L. Jackson.
After performing “The Promised Land”, Springsteen told the audience he was backing Harris because he wanted a president who “reveres” the Constitution. “There is only one candidate in this election who holds those principles dear, Kamala Harris. She’s running to be the 47th president of the United States. Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant,” he added.
The Trump campaign was not impressed with the star turnout. “Relying on celebrities is nothing new for the party of Hollywood elites — and as voters realise the depths of Kamala’s incompetence and radicalism, she needs an added draw,” it said in a statement.
–IANS
