Celebrities lend Harris star power as political honeymoon comes to an end

Oprah Winfrey, who endorsed Harris during the party’s convention in Chicago, will join her in a live-streamed event in the battleground state of Michigan on Thursday as early voting begins in some states.

“It’s important to me to motivate people to vote – and that’s my intention in hosting this event,” Winfrey said in a statement. “My goal is to inspire people about the privilege and power of voting.”

Her event came a week after pop icon Taylor Swift got under Trump’s skin with her support for Harris, and a day after singer Billie Eilish also pledged her support.

“We are voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy,” Eilish said in a video message with her brother Finneas O’Connell.

Celebrity culture has been with Harris’ campaign from the beginning. Singer-songwriter Charli XCX sparked an internet sensation when she called Harris a “brat” on the day she announced her presidential candidacy, which is the slang title of her new album.

A month later, the Democrats entrusted support from Hollywood at a party convention in Chicago attended by stars from Pink to John Legend.

Harris enjoyed a moment of collective relief among Democrats who feared President Joe Biden would cost them the election after his disastrous debate performance in June. Biden resigned a few weeks later so she could take his place.

But the expressions of support have gained importance as the shine of Harris’ candidacy begins to fade.

Her campaign is now plagued by the same intra-party dispute over Gaza that plagued Biden, while Harris gives Democrats new cause for concern. On Wednesday, the Teamsters union withdrew its endorsement, releasing a poll showing rank-and-file members back former President Donald Trump by a nearly 2-1 margin.

Harris has fundamentally reshaped the race. She is ahead of Trump in national polls and has a narrow lead in several swing states. But Democrats are also wary of a waning enthusiasm and are hoping that celebrity endorsements will keep voters on board.

Harris’ aides frequently point to her debate against Trump in Philadelphia last week, rejecting the notion that Harris needs to rely on celebrity status, instead emphasizing their importance to voters as trusted messengers.

“[This week’s] “The stops are the latest opportunity for the Vice President to continue to ride the momentum from her convincing debate victory – and to bring her message of leaving Donald Trump behind and forging a new path forward directly to voters in swing states,” Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt wrote in a memo. “The events, like the prime-time livestream event with Oprah, are also high-visibility opportunities to attract attention beyond the states where they take place.”

Nevertheless, the Trump campaign has already declared Harris’ political honeymoon over, arguing that the public is “slowly waking up to the fact that she is a dangerous, liberal and failed vice president.”

“President Trump has seen a surge in the polls following the debate and is ahead in this race,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the Washington Examiner.

According to Democratic strategist Garry South, maintaining momentum throughout the campaign is nearly impossible. But South believes Harris is still ahead. In post-debate polls, she maintained her lead and in some cases even increased it.

“I was very critical of her failed 2019-20 presidential campaign, but I give her full credit on this,” South told the Washington Examiner“She didn’t make any major mistakes, her roll-out and execution were flawless.”

Republicans have criticized Harris for largely avoiding national media since announcing her campaign and waiting weeks to begin laying out her policy agenda.

But Harris has slowly begun to do both. On Tuesday, she conducted one of her first major interviews with national reporters at a meeting with the National Association of Black Journalists.

“Harris also benefited from the fact that it was an unusually short campaign, and Trump suffered from the excessive attention for more than nine years,” South said.

Another Democratic strategist, Christopher Hahn, former staffer of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and moderator of the Aggressively progressive Podcast, said every campaign tries to build momentum and Harris’s was “no different.”

Colin Seeberger, a senior communications adviser at the Center for American Progress, called the Harris-Winfrey event a “smart strategy” because it provides the vice president with a platform to communicate “directly with voters.”

“According to a recent NBC poll, 40% of voters describe themselves as primary consumers of digital media,” Seeberger told the Washington Examiner“By leveraging the social media accounts of Winfrey and the Harris campaign, the Vice President’s conversation can reach millions of Americans who might not otherwise be inclined to follow traditional media coverage.”

“The poll also shows that these are exactly the voters that both campaigns need to focus on convincing,” he said.

But the events also provide Republicans with an opportunity to accuse Harris of clinging to the elite.

The event with Winfrey follows a benefit hosted by actor Matt Damon and Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda in New York on Wednesday night. Tickets for the dinner cost $25,000 per person, according to Bloomberg.

Other celebrities, from actors Robert De Niro, Molly Ringwald, Tyler Ferguson, Tony Goldwyn and Leslie Odom Jr. to singers Debbie Harry of Blondie and Michael Stipe of REM, have hosted events for Harris this month alone, according to the New York Times.

Harris also spoke to young people on Wednesday during a campaign conference call, along with actress Chloe Grace Moretz and Tennessee Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson.

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“Your generation is doing really well,” Harris said. “You’re brilliant, you’re dedicated, you’re impatient in every incredible, good way. You’re not waiting for somebody else to take the lead. You’re saying you’re going to take the lead and you’re going to get it done. And I mean, isn’t that the spirit of our country that makes us strong?”

The Harris-Winfrey event begins at 8:00 p.m. EDT.