Beyoncé lent her star power to Kamala Harris at a heated rally in her home state of Texas on Friday, as the vice president warned that the state’s near-total abortion ban could become law. declared that it was “on the brink of history.” If Donald Trump is elected, that land will be reduced.
“To every man and woman in this room, and to everyone watching across the country, we need you,” Beyoncé told the crowd of 30,000 at Houston’s outdoor Shell Energy Stadium. spoke to the audience.
With the presidential campaign effectively at a standstill, Harris has detoured from a frenetic campaign in seven battleground states to run in reliably Republican Texas, appealing to voters who have not yet made up their minds or cast a ballot. attempted to emphasize abortion regulations.
“Let me be clear: If Donald Trump wins again, he will ban abortion nationwide,” Harris told the audience in her biggest speech to date. Harris took to the stage to Beyoncé’s rousing anthem “Freedom,” as she has done since she was nominated nearly 100 days ago.
Harris has campaigned on the theme of freedom. In the final days of the campaign, she was seen as a threat to President Trump’s hard-won progress, seeking to erode access to reproductive health care, rolling back LGBTQ rights, and targeting American democracy itself. I drew it. Earlier this week, Harris agreed that Trump is a “fascist.”
Harris spoke to an enthusiastic audience who waited for hours in the oppressive Houston heat to attend. Rally participants were given flashing wristbands in different colors. Before the event began, they danced and sang as a DJ spun pop ballads.
But the message Harris was trying to convey was a solemn one. She listed the far-reaching effects of abortion bans in states like Texas, calling it “ground zero for reproductive freedom rights.”
“That being said, the election is important,” Harris said.
Despite the speculations, the megastar did not perform. “I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said. “We stand on the precipice of incredible change, on the precipice of history,” Beyoncé told the roaring crowd.
In the final days before the election, the Harris campaign is leveraging the star power of the party’s most popular figures and celebrity supporters. On Friday night, country music star and Texas resident Willie Nelson performed his signature songs, including “On the Road Again,” and actor Jessica Alba encouraged women to vote. Beyoncé was also joined by her mother Tina Knowles and former bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“We are taking back the pen from those who are trying to write the story of America that denies women the right to make their own decisions about their bodies,” Rowland said. “Today, that means picking up a pen and voting for Kamala Harris.”
The night before, Harris held her first campaign event with Barack Obama. He was joined on stage in Atlanta by rocker Bruce Springsteen, who performed a three-song set and lambasted Trump as an “American tyrant.” On Saturday, Harris will hold a rally in Michigan with Michelle Obama.
Harris doesn’t expect to win Texas. But Democrats here are suddenly feeling hopeful after polls suggest an unexpectedly close race between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic Dallas-area Rep. Colin Allred. .
Democrats will face a difficult map in the Senate this term. With a loss in West Virginia all but certain and Montana out of reach, their hopes of maintaining narrow control of the Senate may depend on an upset in the Lone Star State.
“Everything is bigger in Texas,” Allred said Friday night. “But Ted Cruz is too small for Texas.”
The emotional centerpiece of the evening was the personal stories of Texas women who nearly died from pregnancy-related complications because they did not receive proper care.
Ondrea, a Texas woman featured in Harris’ new campaign, became emotional as she described her harrowing experience after miscarrying at 16 weeks and requiring an emergency abortion, which was denied under state law. A video played before her remarks showed scars and scars spread all over her body, from her chest to her pelvis, after a six-hour operation, with doctors having to make an incision in her torso to save her life. She said she had to.
Amanda and Josh Zulawski, two Texas residents who have become powerful surrogates for Harris on the campaign trail, also shared their experiences. At 18 weeks pregnant, Amanda Zulawski began experiencing complications and needed an abortion. Although there was no chance the fetus would survive, doctors refused to terminate the pregnancy and she eventually developed sepsis several days later.
“I finally got close enough to death to receive medical care in Texas,” Amanda Zulawski said.
Houston reproductive health expert Todd Ivey addressed the crowd surrounded by a team of doctors and medical professionals in white coats. He highlighted the challenges of providing care to patients when there is a potential risk of arrest. Since the Texas law went into effect, the state’s infant mortality rate has increased.
“This is a medical crisis,” he said. This is unacceptable and cruel.”
The crowd included Sara Gonzalez, 32, of Splendora, Texas, who drove directly to the stadium from an early morning shift at Starbucks. Gonzalez considers herself an independent and said she wrote a letter as a presidential candidate in 2020. But Gonzalez says the political stakes have changed, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and Texas imposed a near-total ban on abortion.
“Being a woman in Texas right now is not okay,” she said. “I should have freedom over my body.”
