Harris looks for boost from Oprah as part of digital-first media strategy

Kamala Harris and Oprah Winfrey sit on a sofa in front of an audience

By Josh Boak and Zeke Miller

Sept. 20, 2024 11:19 AM PT

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris looked for a boost with persuadable and less-motivated voters as she participated in a livestream this week with former talk show host Oprah Winfrey to focus on her plans to cut costs for the middle class, restore a national right to abortion and address gun violence.

The Thursday evening event — billed as “Unite for America” and hosted by Winfrey from suburban Michigan, one of this election’s key battlegrounds — sought to tap into the same energy as Winfrey’s long-running talk show, which drove bestseller lists and allowed celebrities to share their softer side and everyday people to share stories of struggle and inspiration.

It leaned on celebrities such as Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep, but also the stories of ordinary voters, to promote Harris’ message over the course of 90 minutes and to draw a contrast with former President Trump, the Republican nominee. More than 300,000 people were watching the Harris campaign livestream on YouTube alone, and the event was also being streamed on other major social media platforms.

“We each have those moments in our lives when it’s time to step up,” Harris said when Winfrey asked about her rapid transformation as she went from President Biden’s running mate to being the Democratic nominee herself after he suddenly dropped out in July. “I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose.”

Winfrey told Harris it looked as if a “veil dropped” and she “stepped into your power.”

At one point Harris reminded viewers that she owns a gun — which surprised Winfrey — saying, “If somebody’s breaking into my house, they’re gettin’ shot.” She added, “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

Harris was given the chance to talk about her plans to reduce the cost of housing and lower taxes for the middle class, as she took questions from voters in Michigan and Virginia.

Winfrey recognized Hadley Duvall in the audience. Duvall, 22, became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child.

“You can’t wait until it’s too late to care about reproductive healthcare, because then it’s too late,” said Duvall, who is featured in a new Harris campaign ad. “Thank you for hearing us and seeing us when the Supreme Court won’t,” Duvall added in praise of Harris.

Harris and Winfrey also welcomed the mother and sister of a young Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill. Amber Thurman’s death, first reported Monday by ProPublica, occurred just two weeks after Georgia’s strict abortion ban was enacted in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn nationwide abortion rights. Harris has blamed her death on Trump.

“Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a family, a strong family, and we would have done whatever to get my baby, our baby, the help that she needed,” said Thurman’s mother, Shanette Williams.

Harris praised their courage in speaking out and called out a “healthcare crisis” caused by the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. “They have no right to be in your womb,” added Winfrey.

Natalie Griffith, a student who was shot twice last month at Apalachee High School in Georgia, joined with her parents. Her mother described the fear she felt after learning about the gunfire at her child’s school.

“No parent should go through this,” Marilda Griffith said through tears as she described rushing out of work and running to the school to learn whether her daughter was OK. She appealed for federal action to curb gun violence.

Harris said assault-style rifles were designed to kill as many people as possible on a battlefield and “don’t belong on the streets of a civil society.”

The event comes as Harris is working to continue to share her biography and governing philosophy with voters during her abbreviated presidential campaign, with early voting already underway in some states.

Harris has limited her interactions with the traditional media, instead prioritizing digital engagement and casual — and often more controlled — moments that her campaign hopes will reach voters who increasingly get their news from digital sources.

“I want to bring my daughters to the White House to meet this Black woman president,” comedian Chris Rock said.

The in-the-round stage has the appearance of a college campus, with faux brick pillars and a background of trees and green turf under the chairs of the several hundred guests in the audience. Dozens more supporters were featured on video screens in the hall.

“I look around at these screens, Oprah, and I look at who’s in the room, and this is America,” Harris said.

The event was meant to unify Harris supporter groups that spun off organically after a “Black Women for Harris” call drew tens of thousands of viewers — and raised $1.5 million — in the hours after Harris took over for Biden after he ended his campaign. These groups included “White Dudes for Harris,” “Comedians for Harris” and “Swifties for Harris.”

The event included a direct call to action to viewers to volunteer for Harris’ campaign.

Winfrey ended with a call “for all decent people, for all caring people” to back Harris, saying of Trump, “We’re better than this.”

Boak and Miller write for the Associated Press. Boak reported from Farmington Hills, Mich., Miller from Washington.