Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her final campaign rallying call in Pennsylvania Monday evening in Philadelphia. The event was fueled by major celebrities who showed up to speak and perform in support of the Democratic presidential nominee with Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, will.i.am, Fat Joe, the Roots, and Oprah taking the stage.
The support for Harris also stretched across multiple cities across the country: Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, War and Treaty, Andra Day, and more performed at Harris rallies in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Milwaukee.
In Philadelphia, Gaga sang a moving rendition of “God Bless America” from behind the piano. The Grammy winner also addressed the thousands gathered outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Today, I am holding in my heart all the tough, tenacious women who made me who I am,” said Gaga. “I cast my vote for someone who will be a president for all Americans.” The star returned at the end of the night to perform her song “Edge of Glory.”
Oprah later appeared, accompanied by 10 first-time voters with a few sharing why they had chosen to cast their ballots. “We are voting for healing over hate,” urged Oprah. “I believe that if you and I and the voters you see on the stage show up for our country tomorrow — if we enter that call that President Kennedy made more than six decades ago — then we have the power to choose a leader who will see us. She sees us, and she will do her mighty best to serve all of us.”
The media mogul introduced Harris as the “the next president of these United States,” as Harris walked to the podium to Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which has soundtracked much of the Harris-Walz ticket since this summer.
The vice president pledged to restore reproductive freedoms nationwide, to unify the country across party lines, and to “fight for a future with freedom, with opportunity, and with dignity for all Americans.”
For the last time before Election Day, Harris called upon Americans watching. “Do we believe in freedom?” she pressed. “Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America, and are we ready to fight for it?” Harris continued, before declaring: “And when we fight, we win!”
Earlier in the evening, Martin highlighted the power of the Latino vote, after telling Rolling Stone Hispanic Americans would be “decisive” in this election Harris Tuesday. Martin sang hits Livin’ la vida loca and La Copa de la Vida, while encouraging the crowd to “vote to help our democracy”
Before ending the night in Philly, the Vice President appeared across the state in Pittsburgh, where she was joined by Perry, who pledged her support for Harris last month. There, D-Nice and Day also hit the stage. Day performed her song “Rise Up,” which she also performed at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in support of Hillary Clinton.
After Harris’ unifying speech in Pittsburgh, Perry performed “Dark Horse” and “Part of Me.”
“Four years ago, I became a mother. Best decision I ever made. Orlando and I welcomed our daughter Daisy and she is the reason I am voting for Kamala Harris,” Perry said onstage. “[She’ll] protect our rights as women to make decisions over our body. I know she’ll protect my daughter’s future and our families futures. Let’s make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States.”
Perry closed her performance with a medley of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” and her hit “Firework,” before excitedly saying into mic: “We are not going back.”
For his part, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz focused his efforts on Michigan and Wisconsin, where he spoke in front of packed crowds of supporters. The Detroit rally also saw Jon Bon Jovi and the War and Treaty, who campaigned for the Democratic ticket over the weekend as well.
“We get an opportunity tomorrow to lead this country for generations to come,” said the vice presidential candidate in Milwaukee, adding: “I gotta tell you that one of the best parts of this is that [Kamala] has brought back the joy to politics.”
Walz’s speech was live-streamed at other Harris-Walz events. “We’ve got two minutes left in the game. This thing is tied, but we got the ball,” he said. “And we got the best quarterback with Kamala Harris.”
In Phoenix and Arizona, the campaign focused on the Latino vote. In the Valley of the Sun, “Señora Presidenta” singer La Original Banda el Limón hosted a concert for Harris.
Aguilera and Los Tigres Del Norte rallied crowds in Las Vegas, where Eva Longoria made a speech. “I’m here in honor of the people who have fought to give us the privilege to be heard. Let’s raise our voices and vote for freedom!” Aguilera roared to the audience before launching into a powerful performance of “Fighter.”
The rallies are part of a final push from the Harris-Walz campaign to activate voters in key battleground states across the country. A new New York Times poll Monday showed Trump and Harris neck-in-neck ahead of Tuesday’s election.
From Rolling Stone US
