{"id":15664,"date":"2024-09-19T21:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T04:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15664"},"modified":"2024-09-19T21:05:01","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T04:05:01","slug":"harris-and-oprah-hold-star-studded-event-to-discuss-hot-button-issues-the-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15664","title":{"rendered":"“Harris and Oprah hold star-studded event to discuss hot-button issues”, The Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY\u00a0ALEX GANGITANO<\/a>\u00a0– 09\/19\/24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President Harris and media mogul Oprah Winfrey sat down for an event in Michigan to discuss issues ranging from immigration to the economy, reproductive rights and gun violence prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event<\/a>, which took place on a set reminiscent of Winfrey\u2019s former talk show, included 400 people in the audience and others who joined virtually, including celebrities Ben Stiller, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Tracee Ellis Ross,\u00a0Julia Roberts\u00a0<\/a>and Meryl Streep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vice president and Winfrey discussed reproductive rights issues. They included Hadley Duvall, the Kentucky woman who was raped by her stepfather and impregnated at 12 years old, and the family of Amber Thurman, the 28-year-old Georgia mother who died after not receiving care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvall spoke at the Democratic National Convention and recently was featured<\/a> in a Harris campaign ad, telling her story about having reproductive freedom before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Thurman\u2019s death was reported earlier this week<\/a> by ProPublica, which published that it was \u201cpreventable,\u201d but she didn\u2019t receive care because of the state\u2019s restrictive abortion law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis story is a story that is sadly not the only story of what has been happening since these bans have taken place,\u201d Harris said. \u201cIn state after state, including yours, these abortion bans have been passed that criminalize health care providers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winfrey asked, \u201cEven when a mother\u2019s life is in danger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere\u2019s the problem with that. Is she on death\u2019s door because you actually decide to give her help? Is that what we\u2019re saying? Harris said. \u201cLiterally, a doctor or nurse has to say; she might die any minute, better give her now care because otherwise, I may go to prison for life in some cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a segment on gun violence prevention, a survivor of the Georgia school shooting, Natalie, shared her story of being in class when she was shot twice. The Apalachee High School shooting occurred earlier this month when Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, opened fire and killed four people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to say you\u2019re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone\u2019s guns away. I\u2019m in favor of the Second Amendment, and I\u2019m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Winfrey questioned Harris about owning a gun, which the vice president has publicly said she does, she responded<\/a>, \u201cIf somebody breaks into my house, they\u2019re getting shot. I probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other voters and advocates were included to speak about top issues, starting with a voter who asked about Harris\u2019s plan for fixing the immigration system. Harris brought up the border deal, which was negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators and failed when former President Trump came out in opposition, saying she would sign it into law if it passed Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple then asked about Harris\u2019s plans for improving the economy, to which the vice president mentioned her plan to combat price gouging and to help first-time home buyers and small business entrepreneurs, taking a jap at her political rival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have so many entrepreneurs in our country who have great ideas, incredible work ethic, but not necessarily access to capital because not everybody, like my opponent, was handed $400 million on a silver plate that he filed bankruptcy six times on,\u201d Harris said, referring to Trump who famously started his business ventures with a $1 million loan from his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event also included representatives from grassroots organizations like cat ladies for Kamala, train lovers for Harris-Walz, chefs for Kamala, Republicans for Harris, Swifties for Kamla, Black women for Harris, White Dudes for Harris, Win with Black Men, white women for Harris, South Asians for Harris, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is America,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThis movement that is about reminding each other that we have so much more in common than what separates us is so critically important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before Harris came out on stage, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the stage, followed by Harris campaign chair Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the celebrities who joined virtually praised the vice president throughout the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a fan of Kamala\u2026 I\u2019ve been writing her a check for a long time, and I want to bring my daughters to the White House to meet this Black woman president,\u201d Rock said. \u201cI think she would make a great president, and I\u2019m just, I\u2019m ready to turn the page, man. All of the hate and negativity, it\u2019s got to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stiller also shared that he felt like he went from \u201ca stop Trump mode into a go Kamala mode,\u201d and people were starting to really hear what she was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cMy daughter, her reproductive rights are incredibly important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roberts noted that she\u2019s a mother of two children who can vote for the first time in this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get to travel internationally a lot, and I want people to say oh, \u2018you\u2019re American!\u2019 and not, \u2018Oh, how\u2019s it going over there.\u2019 You know? I want to get back to that,\u201d the actress said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Ross rebuked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) without mentioning him by name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a 52-year-old childless woman, I want to say to the people who think that a woman\u2019s worth is measured in her baby count\u2014I mean, shout out to all the amazing mothers\u2014but the childless woman has been mothering the world and elevating culture as aunts, godmothers, teachers, mentors, sisters, friends\u2026 you do not need to push out a baby to help push humanity forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance, during his 2021 Senate run, lamented to then-Fox News personality<\/a> Tucker Carlson <\/a>that he thought Democrats were promoting an \u201canti-family\u201d agenda led by \u201ca bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they\u2019ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He mentioned Harris at the time and has since said that Democrats\u00a0are intentionally misrepresenting<\/a>\u00a0his past comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello, President Harris,\u201d Streep said during the event, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c47 days,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think you\u2019re going to win; I\u2019m sure you\u2019re going to win. But what happens when you win, and he doesn\u2019t accept it? And you know there\u2019s going to be this long slog of shenanigans,\u201d Streep said, referring to Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lawyers are working, it\u2019s very important that we all speak to our friends and our neighbors about misinformation\u2026 it is important that we stand up for the integrity of poll workers and people who are working on election day,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWe ask people to be alert about mis and disinformation and we ask them, do not be afraid to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has repeatedly claimed there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election. He has challenged the results in court, which rejected those claims for lack of standing or evidence, and the Supreme Court\u00a0rejected\u00a0various election challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0ALEX GANGITANO\u00a0– 09\/19\/24 Vice President Harris and media mogul Oprah Winfrey sat down for an event in Michigan to discuss issues ranging from immigration to the economy, reproductive rights and gun violence prevention. The event, which took place on a set reminiscent of Winfrey\u2019s former talk show, included 400 people in the audience and others […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15665,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664\/revisions\/15665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}