Obama, Springsteen, Beyonce come out in star-studded blitz for Harris
Washington: Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Barack Obama have campaigned together for the first time, seeking to turn the US election into a referendum on Donald Trump amid fears he is within striking distance of returning to the White House.
With less than two weeks until election day – and polls showing that the race remains neck and neck – the Harris campaign has embarked on a star-studded blitz of battleground states to ramp up attacks against the former president’s character in the hope of getting more people to vote.
US presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Barack Obama campaign together for the first time. Credit: Getty Images
“This is not 2016 or 2020 – the stakes are even higher because over the last few years, and in particular the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable and more angry,” Harris told the crowd in Georgia after being introduced by Obama.
“You see it every day. He has become increasingly unhinged. But last time, at least, there were people around him who could control him. Now, just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”
The “When We Vote We Win” concert series began on Thursday night (Friday AEDT), with Harris and Obama joining forces with legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson, acclaimed director Spike Lee and US actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry.
Bruce Springsteen took the stage with an acoustic rendition of The Promised Land. Credit: AP
In what is likely to be one of the most anticipated cultural moments of the campaign so far, Beyoncé will appear alongside the Democratic nominee on Friday in Texas – which is viewed by Democrats as “ground zero” for abortion restrictions – followed by Michelle Obama joining the campaign in Michigan on Saturday.
The star-studded push is designed to motivate the Democratic base to vote early or show up in force on election day, which can make all the difference under America’s optional voting system.
In the 2020 match-up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, for instance, a record 159 million Americans cast a vote, but this represented only about 67 per cent of eligible voters. About 80 million others didn’t take part.
But as the campaign reaches its final stretch, Harris – who began her run for the White House as a so-called “joyful warrior” – has increasingly gone negative, leaning into Biden’s narrative of Trump as an existential threat to democracy.
Her campaign was given ample ammunition this week, when Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star general, described his former boss as a fascist who reportedly “wanted the kind of generals Hitler had”.
Adding that Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, had raised similar alarm bells, Obama said that “these are serious people” and men who “have never in the past even talked about politics because they believe that the military should be above politics”.
Obama also made a direct pitch to men to reject Trump’s misogyny. Polls have shown a widening gender gap between the two candidates, with men turning to Trump at much higher rates, while women are turning to Harris.
“I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behaviour is a sign of strength,” said Obama, who is arguably the most revered person in the Democratic Party alongside his wife.
Kamala Harris hugs former president Barack Obama after he introduced her at the rally.Credit: AP
“I am here to tell you, that is not what real strength is. It never has been.”
Trump, meanwhile, campaigned in Arizona, which sits along the US-Mexico border, and Nevada, which is home to thousands of hospitality workers for whom the economy is a key issue.
In Arizona, the former president reiterated his pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history, declaring that under the Biden-Harris administration: “We’re like a garbage can for the world.”
Earlier, on social media, he wrote of Kelly: “Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH. John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON!”
About 20,000 people attended Harris’ rally in Georgia, according to her campaign. As the sun set in the city of Clarkston, often referred to as “the most diverse square mile in America”, Springsteen took the stage with an acoustic rendition of The Promised Land.
In support of Harris, he told the crowd: “She’s running to be the 47th president of the United States. Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant.
“I want a president that reveres the Constitution; who does not threaten but wants to protect and guide our great democracy; who believes in the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power; who will fight for a woman’s right to choose; and who wants to create a middle-class economy that will serve all our citizens. There is only one candidate in this election who holds those principles dear – Kamala Harris.”
The Deep South state was a Republican stronghold for years until Biden flipped it in 2020. This led to Trump pressuring Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” 11,780 votes so he could overthrow Biden’s victory.
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