Vice President Kamala Harris and Oprah Winfrey spoke before a live studio audience of mostly more than 400 supporters Thursday night during a campaign event reminiscent of the host’s long-running, award-winning talk show.
At the event entitled “Unite for America,” Harris spoke about the “great responsibility” she feels to succeed the US president after President Joe Biden resigned.
“I actually told people it felt like a veil fell and you kind of stepped through that veil. Did it actually… feel like that?” Winfrey asked the vice president.
Oprah Winfrey speaks with Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at United For America 2024 on September 19, 2024 in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
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“To be honest, I felt a sense of responsibility, and with that comes a sense of purpose,” Harris replied.
Earlier in the evening, Winfrey picked up where she left off at the Democratic National Convention, expressing her belief that joy is no longer on the horizon, but “is here.”
“I’m here because I care deeply about the future of our country, and I know all of you do too,” Winfrey said. “Kamala Harris has unleashed a unifying force that we haven’t seen in politics in a long time. And I know a lot of people feel that, because there is actually hope and joy. Can you feel that? You can feel it.”
She continued, “The word joy has been talked about so much. And I think that’s such a good thing because it means there’s a real sense of optimism and hope and it’s coming back. As Michelle Obama said, that new day is no longer on the horizon, the new day is actually here. We’re in the middle of it. We’re living it.”
The event is expected to have a wide reach online, streamed across Winfrey and Harris’ YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitch accounts, which together have tens of millions of followers across platforms.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (left) joins Oprah Winfrey prior to the arrival of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris at Oprah’s live-streamed “Unite for America” event on September 19, 2024 in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
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The event, which was also livestreamed to thousands of people, featured Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and celebrities Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Tracie Ellis Ross and Jennifer Lopez. They also invited the leaders of Zoom fundraising calls that took place after Harris’ rise to the top of the ballot in July, such as Win with Black Women, Childless Cat Ladies for Harris and White Dudes for Harris.
