Kamala Harris kicked off the first official day of her 2024 presidential run in epic fashion on Monday (July 22), raising more than $81 million in the first 24 hours after the nation’s current Vice President was endorsed by President Biden following the commander-in-chief’s announcement ending his bid for a second term.
The historic fundraising haul — which was boosted by 62% of donors making their first contribution to a campaign — was matched by an equally gaudy number of sign-ups for new volunteers in key swing states topping more than 28,000 as enthusiasm for Harris re-energized a democratic base that had grown pensive about Biden’s chances of defeating former President Donald Trump.
But perhaps the biggest bump of approval of all came from an unlikely source: Beyoncé. According to CNN, when Harris walked into her campaign headquarters on Monday night (July 22) night for her first official visit she did it to Bey’s 2016 Lemonade track “Freedom.” A source told CNN that Harris’ team got approval from the singer’s reps to use the song throughout her surprise second presidential bid.
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At press time spokespeople for Harris and Beyoncé had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
The Grammy-nominated song featuring Kendrick Lamar became the soundtrack for many of the street demonstrations around the nation following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. “Freedom, Freedom/ Where are you?/ ‘Cause I need freedom, too/ I break chains all by myself/ Won’t let my freedom rot in hell/ Hey! I’ma keep running/ ‘Cause a winner don’t quit on themselves,” Beyoncé sings on the track’s soaring chorus.
The network noted the Bey is notorious for being very guarded about licensing her music, but that she gave “quick approval” to the Harris campaign when they reached out to ask for permission to use “Freedom” on Monday, just a few hours before the campaign HQ entrance. At press time Beyoncé had not officially endorsed Harris, though CNN speculated that the permission to use “Freedom” suggested that the fledgling campaign has the singer’s support. Though Bey has not given Harris her official thumbs up, her mother, Tina Knowles, joined a group of stars giving the veep’s run their stamp of approval.
“New, Youthful, Sharp , , energy !!!!” Knowles wrote on Instagram alongside a pic of her with Harris. “Putting personal Ego , power and fame aside . That is the definition of a great leader, . Thank you, President Biden for your service and your leadership . Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let’s Go”
Beyoncé has been a supporter of democratic candidates in the past, singing the National Anthem at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2013, headlining a pre-election show for Hillary Clinton along with husband Jay-Z in 2016 and endorsing the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020.
Former prosecutor Harris wasted no time during her first public appearance in taking it to twice-impeached convicted felon Trump, who is making his third run at the White House after Biden sent him packing in 2020 after a single term; Trump continues to falsely claim that Biden did not win the election.
“I took on perpetrators of all kinds: Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris told the crowd at her Wilmington, DE campaign HQ. “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. And in this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his.” Once her 20-minute speech ended, Harris walked off stage to “Freedom” again.
The reported Beyoncé approval is in stark contrast to the long list of musicians who have repeatedly asked Trump to cease and desist from using their music during his campaign events. Similarly, a long list of A-list musicians have quickly leapt to support Harris’ bid — including Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Katy Perry, Lil Nas X and many more — while the Trump-topped Republican National Convention last weekend featured appearances from a mixture of stars such as Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Lee Greenwood and Chris Janson, as well as former wrestler Hulk Hogan, fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Russell Brand and Amber Rose.
