Oprah Winfrey organized a campaign event of the 2024 elections with the vice president Kamala Harris in a Detroit suburb Thursday night, which featured a mix of celebrities, campaign organizers and a crowd of voters from battleground states.
The event in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was attended by an in-person crowd of a few hundred people as well as virtual attendees, including celebrities Ben Stiller, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Tracee Ellis Ross, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep.
The conversation between Oprah and Harris began with talk of a “new day” and the sense of “joy” that Democrats have associated with Harris’ campaign.
But then they turned to topics that featured personal, intimate stories of people affected by state abortion bans and school shootings.
On school shootings
The parents of Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old injured in the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School earlier this month in Winder, Georgia, spoke at the event. Griffith’s mother, Marilda, made an emotional plea for “change to be made” to address gun violence. Her father, Doug, who noted he was not registered as a Democrat, called for metal detectors to be placed inside schools.
Harris did not explicitly say whether she agreed with the call for metal detectors, but said “we just have to use common sense” and repeated her calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
On restrictions on the right to abortion
The mother and sisters of Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died in 2022 after medical care was delayed due to the state’s abortion ban, also spoke publicly for the first time since ProPublica’s report on Thurman was published.
“I’m beyond hurt, disappointed… We trusted that they would take care of her, you know?” said Thurman’s sister, CJ. “And they let her die because of a stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number.”
Harris said Thurman’s death was “preventable” And, as he did throughout his campaign and vice presidency, he blamed former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointments for leading to the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
He also criticized states with abortion restrictions but that have exceptions “to save the life of the mother,” arguing that It shouldn’t get to that point.
“So, he’s on the verge of death before you actually decide to help him? Is that what we’re saying?” Harris asked. “As if a doctor or nurse literally had to say, ‘He could die at any moment, so you better give him care.’”
Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was impregnated by her father at age 12 and was able to obtain an abortion, also spoke outDuvall had appeared in several of Harris’ campaign ads and also spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
The event was broadcast live and conducted in an interview-style debate, similar to Winfrey’s old talk show. It was billed as a way to bring together many pro-Harris coalitions, including “Win with Black Women,” “White Dudes for Harris” and “Swifties for Harris.”
These are all groups that have been holding Zoom conference calls to raise money for Harris’s campaign and mobilize voters.
Harris campaign advisers saw the event as a way to reach out to voters, and Winfrey often structured her questions to target undecided voters.
Harris made a quick reference to her campaign’s legal team and asked the audience to help stop misinformation and support election workers.
Winfrey, an independent who endorsed Harris and spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month, closed the show with a call for undecided voters to choose Harris.
The full event can be viewed here.
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