Harris, Oprah hold Michigan campaign event in talk show format

Using a similar format to her former long-running talk show, Oprah Winfrey hosted a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris in suburban Detroit Thursday evening which featured a mix of celebrities, campaign organizers and a crowd of battleground state voters. 

The event in Farmington Hills, Michigan — which had an in-person crowd of a few hundred and also featured virtual attendees — opened with talk of a “new day” and the sense of “joy” Democrats have associated with the Harris campaign. But the conversation later steered towards issues featuring personal, intimate stories of people impacted by state abortion bans and school shootings. 

The parents of Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old injured in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month in Winder, Georgia, spoke. Griffith’s mother, Marilda, made an emotional plea for a “change to be made” to address gun violence. Her father, Doug — who noted that he was not a registered Democrat — called for metal detectors to be placed inside schools. 

Harris did not explicitly say if she agreed with the call for metal detectors, but said “we just need to apply common sense.” She repeated her calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. When Winfrey made note of Harris being a gun owner, as she revealed in prior campaigns and repeated in her debate with Trump, Harris said that “if somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

“Sorry, probably should not have said that,” Harris joked. “My staff will deal with that later.” 

The mother and sisters of Amber Thurman — a Georgia woman who died in 2022 after medical care was delayed due to the state’s abortion ban — also spoke for the first time publicly since the ProPublica report about Thurman was released. 

“I’m beyond hurt, disappointed…we trusted them to take care of her, you know?” said CJ, Thurman’s sister. “And they just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number.” 

Harris called Thurman’s death “preventable,” and as she has throughout her campaign and vice presidency, blamed former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointments for leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She also criticized states with abortion restrictions but have exceptions “to save the life of the mother,” arguing it should not reach that point.

“So is she on death’s door before you actually decide to give her help, Is that what we’re saying?” Harris asked. “Like, literally, a doctor or a nurse has to say, ‘She might die any minute, better give her care.’”

Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was impregnated by her father at 12-years-old and was able to get an abortion, also spoke. Duvall had been featured in several of Harris’ campaign ads, and also spoke at the Democratic National Convention. 

The event was livestreamed and conducted in an interview-style discussion similar to Winfrey’s old talk show. It was billed as a way to bring together many pro-Harris coalitions, including “Win with Black Women,”  “White Dudes for Harris” and “Swifties for Harris.” 

All are groups that have been holding Zoom conference calls to raise money for Harris’ campaign and mobilize voters. Harris campaign advisers saw the event as a way to reach persuadable voters, and Winfrey often structured her questions to be geared towards undecided voters. 

Several celebrities also appeared by video, including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jennifer Lopez, Julie Roberts, Tracee Ellis Ross, Bryan Cranston and Meryl Streep. 

Earlier Thursday, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley panned the event, saying in a statement that Harris was campaigning with “an out-of-touch celebrity, further confirming that the Democrat party is not the party of hardworking Americans – it is the party of elitists.”

Streep asked Harris what her plan would be if she wins in November and there is another push to try and overturn the election results, as Trump and some Republicans are criminally charged with allegedly doing in 2020. 

“We will be ready,” Harris said, pointing to Republicans disaffected by the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that may vote for her. “To try and upend a free and fair election where the American people voted, that was a bridge too far for a lot of people…I think there is absolutely no tolerance whatsoever from the vast majority of Americans for that, and they’ve seen the lies.”

Harris made a quick reference to her campaign’s legal team, and pleaded for the audience to help curb misinformation and support poll workers. 

Winfrey, an independent who has endorsed Harris and spoke at the DNC last month, closed the program with a call to undecided voters to choose Harris.

“This is the moment for people who are tired of all of the bickering and all of the name calling, people who are exhausted by the craziness and the made up stories and the conspiracies. This is the moment you want to get on with your life, because you know that we can do better and that we deserve better.”