Vice President Kamala Harris shared the stage with TV host Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night for a livestreamed campaign event featuring a live audience and virtual attendees from a Farmington Hills studio where the pair discussed a range of issues from the cost of living to abortion rights with the Nov. 5 election around the corner.

Harris faces former President Donald Trump in a tight race for the White House, and her appearance in Michigan comes after her Republican opponent visited the battleground state earlier in the week. Trump’s campaign mocked Harris’ event before it began, saying she doesn’t have a robust economic agenda. “Well, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t lower inflation by hiding goodie bags under chairs,” said Team Trump Michigan Communications Director Victoria LaCivita in a statement Thursday morning.

Winfrey first endorsed a presidential candidate in 2008 when she backed Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, according to multiple media reports at the time. She went on to back Hillary Clinton in 2016 and gave a last-minute boost in the final days of President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month, Winfrey again announced her support for the Democratic candidate. And in Michigan, she put her full support behind Harris, with the pair sitting across from one another in beige accent chairs for over an hour.

An unusual format

In the post-COVID-19 era of hybrid work that accommodates those in the office and those working from home, it’s perhaps no surprise that politicians hitting the campaign trail would embrace the virtual format as Harris did Thursday night. About 400 of her supporters joined in person at a Farmington Hills studio while thousands, including celebrities, attended remotely, according to Winfrey.

While her supporters’ massive Zoom calls have helped buoy Harris’ campaign, the livestreamed campaign event Thursday seemed to offer further evidence the 2024 campaign cycle has taken the next step of campaigning in an internet era that seems to reward social media influencers and political organizers skilled at online organizing.

Those in person in the studio caught a glimpse of reality behind the scenes of viral moments. Photographers for national news outlets jockeyed for space with the film crew for the best shots. “Can I get another water for OW?” one crew member instructed on set. At the end of the show, Winfrey thanked everyone in the studio and said they were all fantastic.

Tearful stories

During the program, Winfrey invited a few individuals to share their personal stories about abortion bans in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and school shootings.

Amber Nicole Thurman was a Georgia woman who died after delayed abortion care in a state with a ban on the books, according to a ProPublica investigation. Winfrey introduced Thurman’s mother Shanette on Thursday and invited her to speak publicly for the first time about her daughter’s story.

“Initially, I did not want the public to know my pain. I wanted to go through in silence. But I realized that it was selfish. I want y’all to know 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,” Shanette said, her eyes wet and holding a tissue in her right hand. “You’re looking at a mother that is broken.”

Winfrey later turned to 15-year-old Natalie Griffith — an Apalachee High School student who was shot at during a shooting on campus earlier this month. When Winfrey asked her where Griffith shot, she pointed to the bandages covering her shoulder and wrist. Through tears, her mother Marilda recalled receiving a call at work from a friend notifying her of the shooting. “My heart just dropped,” she said, her voice wavering. No parent should have to experience what she did, Marilda said.

Michigan 2024 Election: Joy, tears as Oprah Winfrey puts full support behind VP Kamala Harris in Michigan

Harris makes new comments on gun ownership

As Harris leaned into her support for abortion rights and gun safety measures she also argued that Americans don’t have to make hard choices on those issues when it comes to their religious beliefs in the case of abortion or abandon their support for the 2nd Amendment.

On abortion, Harris said that “one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government” should not be telling women what to do with their bodies. She made a similar argument on guns.

“Look, I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence some people have been pushing a really false choice to suggest you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” she said. “I’m in favor of the Second Amendment, and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks and red flag laws.”

Harris talked about being a gun owner herself. “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot,” she said. “I probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later,” Harris laughed.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

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