Oprah Winfrey Hosts Kamala Harris At 'Unite For America' Rally

Celebrity talkshow host Oprah Winfrey hosted Kamala Harris at the 'Unite America' livestream event, where she had a talk show-style sitdown with the Democratic Party nominee in Farmington Hills, Oakland County, Michigan and fielded queries and questions from supporters.

Also in attendance were celebrities like Meryl Streep, Bryan Cranston, Julia Roberts, and Jennifer Lopez, as well as comedians Chris Rock and Ben Stiller.

The livestream event hosted a live audience of around 400 people and thousands more who joined online, shown through screens plastered across the walls at the event.

"This grassroots people-powered movement has unleashed a unifying force behind Kamala Harris beyond anything we've seen in politics in a very long time," Winfrey said, referring to the audience that joined the event.

The event was organised with the help of Jotaka Eady, a social strategist and the founder of the 'Win With Black Women' collective.

Other organisations that joined included 'Catladies for Kamala,' 'Rural Americans For Harris,' 'Caregivers For Kamala,' 'Trainlovers for Harris-Walz,' 'Chefs For Kamala,' 'Republicans For Harris,' and 'Swifties For Harris'.

Harris fielded questions from people in the audience who were attending in person and also from online on a variety of topics.

Harris stated that she plans to sign the border security bill that adds 15,000 more border agents at the border if she becomes President of the United States.

"It will allow us to stem the flow of fentanyl... The bill would allow us more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organisations," Harris said.

The US Vice President stated that first-time home buyers would have a $25,000 down payment assistance to buy a home. And she plans to extend and expand child tax credit to $6,000.

"People just need to be able to put their foot in the door and you'll be able to do the hard work," said Harris.

She also addressed the rising cost of groceries and stated that she would address corporations that "jack up their prices" during crises like a pandemic or extreme weather.

"I'm going to be taking on price gouging. There is going to be accountability for that," Harris said.

Harris stated that she supported small businesses and small business owners and planned to expand financial aid for them.

She plans to expand tax deductions for small businesses to $50,000 from the current amount of $5,000.

"They're not only business leaders; they're community leaders; they mentor; they hire locally. We have so many entrepreneurs who have great ideas and an incredible work ethic but not necessarily access to capital," Harris said.

The Democratic National Committee nominee said that she plans to build an "opportunity economy" because she feels that US citizens just need an opportunity to reach their goals and their dreams.

"When the middle class is strong, America is strong," Harris stated.

Harris criticised the overturning of the 'Roe v. Wade' Supreme Court decision that had overturned the right for people to have abortions and let states decide on abortion legislation.

Harris said that the abortion bans in various states in the US led to criminalising health care providers like doctors and nurses and in some states punishment was life imprisonment.

She reiterated her commitment to making sure pregnant people have the right to decide on what to do with their pregnancies.

Harris said she is in favour of the second amendment, which gives every US citizen the right to bear arms, but she is also in favour of banning assault weapons and conducting universal background checks in order to stem gun violence in the US.

"I am a gun owner too. If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot," Harris joked.