Beyoncé joins Harris at rally in Houston | Arkansas Democratic Newspaper

HOUSTON – Kamala Harris was joined at a Texas rally with singer Beyoncé by women who nearly died from pregnancy complications, hoping the fallout from Roe v. Wade’s collapse would encourage voters to support her bid for the presidency, while Donald Trump missed the rally in Michigan after recording a podcast with Joe Rogan.

Beyoncé told a packed stadium that it was time for America to elect President Harris, urging voters to “sing a new song.”

Harris came out and cheered enthusiastically. She told the crowd that Trump erased half a century of dogged progress by appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and created a health care crisis.

“For anyone watching from another state if they think they are protected from Trump’s abortion bans because they live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, California or any state where voters or lawmakers protect reproductive freedom, know : no one is protected,” she said. “Because Donald Trump’s nationwide ban will ban abortion in every state.”

Harris listed further impacts she sees from the various bans, such as “fewer choices for women, fewer medical students choosing to specialize in women’s health.”

Her campaign said it was her biggest rally yet; The crowd waited for hours, wearing flashing red, white and blue LED bracelets as the words “Trust Women” and “Freedom” appeared on large screens to hear speakers who emphasized the medical effects of abortion restrictions.

She was joined at the rally by women who had nearly died from sepsis and other pregnancy complications because they could not obtain adequate medical care, including women who never intended to terminate their pregnancies.

Amid the heat of the presidential election, Harris is banking on abortion rights as a major driving force for voters — including Republican women, especially since Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right.

Trump has been inconsistent in his message to voters about abortion and reproductive rights, although he has said he would veto a nationwide abortion ban. He repeatedly changed his position and gave vague, contradictory and sometimes nonsensical answers to questions on an issue that became a major weakness for Republicans in this year’s election.

Her anthem was Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Freedom,” whose message fits in with the vice president’s emphasis on reproductive freedom. The singer’s scheduled performance on Friday adds a star-studded touch to Harris’ visit to the state. On Friday, Harris was joined by actress Jessica Alba, and Willie Nelson sang some of his biggest hits, including “On the Road Again.”

These are the latest stars to want to beat Harris, following Lizzo, James Taylor, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Eminem. While in Texas, Harris also recorded a podcast with host Brené Brown.

TRUMP RALLY

Meanwhile, Trump showed up nearly three hours late to a rally in Michigan on Friday, causing thousands of his supporters to leave town while others hunkered down in the chilly weather waiting for the former president at an outdoor rally in the battleground state .

The Republican presidential candidate was delayed for an interview with Joe Rogan, the most listened to podcaster in the country, that lasted three hours in Austin, Texas. Trump is aggressively courting younger male voters, among whom Rogan is very popular. The interview was published on Friday evening.

Minutes before Trump was scheduled to start his rally in Michigan, his spokesman posted on social media platform X that Trump was leaving Texas, more than two hours away by plane. Trump recorded a video from his plane in which he urged his supporters to stay, noting that it was Friday night and promising, “We’re going to have a good time tonight.”

Trump eventually took the stage at the Traverse City airport, where the temperature dropped to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and apologized.

“I’m very sorry,” he said. “We were very close and I thought you wouldn’t mind because we’re trying to win.”

Participants who had not left packed, some covered with blankets, waited for him to land. The crowd sounded and looked disengaged as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon tried to pass the time on stage. Hats were thrown towards the participants.

Appearing in Austin on Friday, Trump tried to turn Harris’ event into a line of attack tied to one of his favorite topics: immigration.

Hours before Harris’ star-studded event, Trump accused the vice president of meeting with “woke celebrities” but not the families of people killed by immigrants.

Trump’s trip to Texas, his second stop in the border state in two days, comes as the former president escalates his rhetoric against illegal immigration.

“We’re like a dumpster for the rest of the world that’s throwing out people it doesn’t want,” Trump told supporters Friday in Austin. Trump continues to promote the idea that foreign governments actively send criminals to the United States

Throughout the campaign, Trump regularly appeared with grieving relatives of people who were injured or killed by people living in the country illegally. On Friday, he handed the microphone to the mother of a 12-year-old Texas girl, Jocelyn Nungaray, whose body was found in June. Prosecutors in the US illegally charged two Venezuelans with capital murder.

The interview with Rogan, who records his podcast in Austin, provided another opportunity for the GOP nominee to emphasize the hypermasculine tone that has largely defined his 2024 White House bid.

The podcaster is known for his many hours of interviews for “The Joe Rogan Experience”, which is ranked number one in the United States according to the Spotify charts. He calls women “chicks” and once laughed when a comedian friend of his described repeatedly forcing young women to have sex in comics.

Information for this article was contributed by Darlene Superville, Colleen Long, Nadia Lathan, Jill Colvin, Melissa Perez Winder, Adriana Gomez Licon and Jonathan J. Cooper of The Associated Press.