HOUSTON, Texas—Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday held a campaign event in Texas, a Republican stronghold, where she delivered remarks focused on abortion access, a central issue to her campaign.
“We know freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours by right, and we are prepared to fight for it,” Harris told thousands of supporters gathered at the Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
Superstar singer Beyoncé, a Houston native, also spoke at the event before Harris took the stage.
“We must vote, and we need you. This time it is time to sing a new song,” Beyoncé said at the rally. “A song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of despair, are no longer resonating.”
The Grammy-winning singer granted the vice president permission to use her song “Freedom,” which Harris has been using in her campaign rallies.
Country singer Willie Nelson also took the stage at the event to perform a song to support the vice president’s bid for the White House.
“You are ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom,” Harris told her Texan supporters, calling out the Lone Star State for having one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country.
As the 2024 presidential election enters its final stretch, both candidates are traveling beyond the traditional battleground states to ensure their core messages are heard more widely. Her speech was interrupted a few times by protesters.
Meanwhile, Trump held a press conference in Austin on Friday to discuss border security and illegal immigrant crime before taping a podcast with Joe Rogan.
Trump criticized his Democratic opponent and blamed the Biden administration for the “invasion” at the southern border. His press conference also featured the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was killed by an illegal immigrant.
Trump’s decision to hold a press conference in Austin came after the Harris campaign’s unexpected move to hold a rally in the deep red state.
Abortion Issue Central
The abortion issue is central to Harris’s platform and she chose Texas due to the state’s restrictive laws. Her rally in Houston featured women who have been affected by abortion restrictions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Amanda Zurawski, from Austin, Texas, spoke at the event, sharing her near-death experience due to a miscarriage before she was able to access an abortion, describing the laws in Texas as “oppressive.”
Passage of a national abortion law would be difficult as it would require 60 votes in the Senate and a majority of the House. When asked about this before the event, Harris said, “We keep fighting.”
“We don’t give up the fight for freedom when it comes to some of the most basic freedoms,” she told reporters.
On Oct. 24, Harris campaigned in the crucial battleground state of Georgia, sharing the stage for the first time with former President Barack Obama. Singer Bruce Springsteen also performed during the event.
A campaign official stated that the crowd size at the Houston event reached 30,000, making it the campaign’s largest event to date.
However, the event was overshadowed by developments in the Middle East. Before Harris took the stage, news broke that the Israeli military had conducted retaliatory airstrikes against military targets in Iran.
After the rally, a White House official said that Harris had been briefed on the strikes.
“She is closely following developments and will continue to be updated,” the official said.
