politics
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Bruce Springsteen supported Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at a rally on Thursday night (Oct. 24) in Clarkston, Georgia, performing three songs and standing in stark opposition to Harris’ opponent, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. “I’m Bruce Springsteen and I am here today to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president […]
James Taylor is supporting the Democratic ticket, as the presidential election quickly approaches. The “You’ve Got a Friend” singer will join Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, during his rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday (Oct. 24). At the event, Walz will speak to state residents about their power to vote, […]
Beyoncé is set to appear at Kamala Harris‘ rally in Houston, Tex. — the pop superstar’s hometown — this Friday (Oct. 25), according to multiple reports.
Per The Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, The Hollywood Reporter and NBC News, which cited sources familiar with the planning, Bey will appear at the event — the venue of which has yet to be announced — as the Democratic candidate makes one of her final addresses to voters ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5. The reports include no further details on whether the “Texas Hold ‘Em” musician will perform or share remarks.
The DNC’s event posting for the rally, however, confirms that Bey’s mom, Tina Knowles, and Cowboy Carter collaborator, country legend Willie Nelson, will definitely be in attendance.
Billboard has reached out to Beyoncé’s rep, Harris’ campaign and the DNC for comment.
Though the 32-time Grammy winner has not vocalized support for Harris amid the 2024 election cycle, her presence has loomed large over the VP’s campaign. In August, the superstar was heavily rumored to appear at the Democratic National Convention — leaving even some of the Chicago event’s staffers to believe she was on the premises — but never showed up. Her 2016 track “Freedom” has also been prominent in Harris’ campaign, becoming the former prosecutor’s walkout song back in July. CNN confirmed that month that Bey had indeed given direct approval for the song’s use.
The “Break My Soul” artist has also long used her voice to support political causes, performing with Jay-Z at a Hillary Clinton musical rally in Cleveland in 2016. In 2020, Bey supported Joe Biden’s campaign and later celebrated his victory on Instagram.
If she appears, Bey will become just the latest musician to support Harris in person at a campaign event. Megan Thee Stallion, Bon Iver, Pink, Stevie Wonder and several more have performed at various rallies for the VP this year, while others such as Quavo and Eminem have given remarks. Dozens more artists have also publicly endorsed the Democratic ticket in recent months, including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Cardi B, Katy Perry and more.
Bey’s mom has also previously come out in support of Harris. “New, Youthful, Sharp,” Knowles wrote on Instagram July 21, sharing a photo of herself posing with the politician. “Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let’s Go ❤️❤️❤️❤️ #kamala2024”
Jennifer Lopez delivered an important PSA Wednesday (Oct. 23), less than two weeks ahead of the presidential election — and she did it through song. Sitting behind a piano next to actress Jenifer Lewis and vocal coach Stevie Mackey in a video posted to social media, the “On the Floor” singer and her friends belted […]
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Beyoncé will be appearing with Kamala Harris in Houston on Friday, October 25. The music icon will be performing.
The Washington Post first reported that Beyoncé would be linking up with Harris on the campaign trail and will be appearing with her mother Tina Knowles, and Country music legend Willie Nelson, too.
BREAKING: Beyoncé will appear with Vice President Harris at her event in Houston, Texas on Friday and is set to perform. pic.twitter.com/DM0U8X8VgW
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 24, 2024
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This pending official endorsement from Queen Bey was inevitable. While Donald Trump’s music selection usually ends up with cease and desist letters, Beyoncé co-signed the Harris Walz campaign’s use of her 2016 song “Freedom” as a rallying cry.
With less than two weeks to the election Harris is pulling out all the stop’s and Bey’s participation is looking legit, unlike her rumored appearance at the Democratic National Convention. In reality, Beyoncé was never scheduled to attend the DNC.
Also, Bey just dropped a new fragrance.
https://twitter.com/BeyLegion/status/1849436410865914130
As you could have guessed, the Bey Hive is going crazy on X (formerly known as Twitter). Don’t take our word for it, see below.
This is a developing story.
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Barack Obama demonstrated several times that he is aligned with Hip-Hop culture in several aspects, and a recent appearance at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris adds to that assessment. During the rally in Detroit, Mich., with Eminem bringing out the former president, Barack Obama rapped the opening bars of the Motor City rapper’s smash hit “Lose Yourself” to uproarious applause.
Barack Obama was in Detroit on Tuesday (October 22) to rally voters in support of Vice President Harris, with several thousand in attendance. Ahead of Obama taking the stage, native son Eminem took to the podium to bring the popular former president out in proper fashion.
With Obama taking his place, his typical charm was on display and elevated when he talked through the lines of “Lose Yourself” with the crowd backing him up which only seemed to energize the moment further.
From there, Obama launched into his talking points and took digs at Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump, including reports of his dwindling crowd sizes, attacks on legal immigrants in Ohio, and generally painting the Republican presidential hopeful as a man lacking the traits to lead the country to better pastures.
“Any election is about more than policies, it’s about values and it’s about character,’ Obama said, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.
“Whether this election is making you feel excited or scared or hopeful or frustrated, or anything in between, do not sit back and hope for the best,” Obama said. “Don’t just hope, get off your couch and vote. Vote for Kamala Harris.”
On X, reactions to Barack Obama, including his rapping of Eminem’s bars, have been positive. We’ve got some of them listed below. We have the video clip in question below as well, courtesy of MSNBC.
Obama raps Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” after being introduced by the rapper at a rally for Harris in Detroit, MI. pic.twitter.com/MqXJzplZPY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 23, 2024
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Photo: Getty
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John Kelly, a former Marine general and former Chief of Staff to Donald Trump during his presidency, revealed insights into the former president’s political aims in a series of new interviews. In them, John Kelly framed Trump as a fascist who displayed an affinity for dictators.
John Kelly joins a growing list of former Trump staffers who have plenty to say about the business mogul’s aims in returning to the White House. In a piece published by The Atlantic on Tuesday (October), Trump’s disdain of the military and his desire for the armed forces to display fealty was on display, including Trump allegedly offering to pay for a slain soldier’s funeral but balking at the $60,000 bill and referring to the Army private as a “f*cking Mexican.”
Later in the piece, two people who say they were close to Trump overheard the former president say during a private conversation, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had” but this was later shot down by Trump spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer.
As the profile continues, the remarks Trump made regarding Hitler’s generals resurface and reference The Divider: Trump in the White House, a book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. In their book, the pair look deeper into a conversation between Trump and Kelly with the former president asking the former general why he couldn’t be more like the German generals, assuming that they pledged complete loyalty to the Naz leader.
Kelly explained that Hitler’s generals attempted to assassinate him but Trump, apparently not someone who studied war history to the level Kelly had, was undeterred. In a quick follow-up chat with The Atlantic, it was made clear that Trump truly believed in the falsehood that all of Hitler’s generals were in his service.
In the New York Times, the outlet shared details of a recorded interview with Kelly, who was asked if he thought Trump was a fascist.
Kelly answered, “Well, looking at the definition of fascism. It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America.”
Kelly added, “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators, he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
The Kamala HQ X account reshared the audio interview to its 1.4 million followers, garnering replies expressing shock but also replies from the MAGA faithful seeking to portray John Kelly as a jilted former employee.
Q: Do you think Trump is a fascist?
Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly: Well, I’m looking at the definition of fascism. It’s a far-right movement with a dictatorial leader and forcible suppression of opposition… So certainly in my experience, he falls into the definition of a… pic.twitter.com/1znyIrkzJ8
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 23, 2024
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Photo: Getty
Former President Barack Obama lost himself in the music, the moment on Tuesday night (Oct. 22) at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s Detroit rally ahead of the 2024 presidential election next month. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Detroit native rapper took the stage to introduce […]
Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi says she “did not approve” the use of her image in a new ad from the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.
In a statement posted Tuesday (Oct. 22) to social media, the techno producer wrote that “the use of this footage was unauthorized and done without my consent. The use of this footage implies that I endorse Vice President Harris’s presidential candidacy, which is totally and utterly false; it is deeply offensive to my social, moral and political beliefs and is misleading political advertising by VP Harris’s presidential campaign.”
The commercial in question is titled “Detroit vs. Trump” and was released amid heavy campaigning by Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in the 2024 swing state. The ad contains footage of Adulhadi performing at Detroit’s annual Movement festival this past May.
“For the avoidance of doubt,” Abdulhadi’s statement continues, “I do not endorse nor have I ever endorsed, Vice President Harris, and I am taking the necessary legal steps to ensure that this video is promptly retracted, to dispel any notion of an association between myself and VP Harris’ campaign for the U.S. presidency.” In the caption, she writes that “I am Sama’ Abdulhadi, and I did not approve this message! I don’t endorse any US political party.”
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Abdulhadi’s statement comes amid continued criticism of the Harris campaign by many Muslim and Arab Americans, given the Biden administration’s support of Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This conflict is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since the war began last October.
The New York Times reports that in an effort to win the votes of Arab and Muslim voters, the Harris campaign has “launched Facebook ads targeting Muslims, created WhatsApp channels and distributed fact sheets with Ms. Harris’s most forceful statements on the war in Gaza. And in private meetings in living rooms and basements across the country, including in the battleground states of Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania, campaign workers are trying to reach voters who say they may stay home, vote third party or even vote for former President Donald J. Trump because of the Biden administration’s policies in the Middle East.”
Green Party candidate Jill Stein commented on Abdulhadi’s post, writing, “Wow…unbelievable.”
Speaking at the Amsterdam Dance Event last week in the Dutch capital, Abdulhadi spoke on her position as a Palestinian artist. “The resistance is doing what the people in the Arab world and what the young people in universities are doing,” she said. “The people’s movement is the thing that is now pushing me to do things, and that’s why I’m still DJing. I would have literally quit the industry a year ago if it wasn’t for for that; if it wasn’t for the crowds that I’m getting now. Every gig I do now is a protest.”
With two weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, many other artists are rallying around the vice president. Eminem is scheduled to make a rare public appearance Tuesday night at a Detroit rally for Harris, where he will reportedly introduce former president Barack Obama at the event supporting the VP and Walz.
With the presidential election just two weeks away, Bruce Springsteen is getting involved. The Boss will be performing at a series of When We Vote We Win shows this month in support of Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz. The two events will take place alongside Harris and former President Barack Obama […]