US Polls: ‘So much at stake in this election,’ Hollywood endorses Kamala Harris

A group of Hollywood A-listers, US Vice President Kamala Harris and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, gathered for an event in battleground Michigan that addressed key issues such as immigration, the economy, reproductive rights, and gun violence prevention.
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“It is so good to be with @Oprah for a town hall to speak directly with Americans about the issues on their minds in this election,” Harris said in a post on X.
“There is so much at stake in this election, and, ultimately, the question before us is: What kind of country do we want to live in? The beauty of a democracy, as long as we can hold on to it, is that each of us has the power to answer that question,” the Democratic Presidential candidate said.
“In state after state, Trump Abortion Bans have criminalized reproductive care. Must a woman be on death’s door before a doctor or a nurse can provide help?” Harris added.
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“Our campaign is about who we are as Americans – and making clear that we stand for freedom, independence, and dignity,” she said.
Oprah conducted the “Unite for America” talk as a studio show similar to the set of Winfrey’s former talk show.
The event, which was also live-streamed, included around 400 audience members and those who joined virtually, including celebrities Ben Stiller, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Tracee Ellis Ross, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep.
During the show, voters joined in person to talk about their experiences with reproductive access, school shootings and other key issues.
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Addressing the topic of gun violence prevention, Harris said, “I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to say you’re either in favour of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away. I’m in favour of the Second Amendment, and I’m in favour of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws,” Harris said.
When Winfrey questioned Harris about owning a gun, which the vice president has publicly said she does, she responded, “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot. I probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later.”
Ahead of her conversation with Kamala Harris, Oprah gave a shout-out to some of the celebrities who had joined in through the livestream.
“I have never felt this much joy and optimism in a campaign in a long time,” the Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston said, while comedian Chris Rock said he wanted to bring his daughters to the White House to meet a Black woman president.
“I think she would make a great president, and I’m ready to turn the page, man. All of the hate and the negativity. It’s gotta stop,” Rock said, as cited in the Hollywood Reporter.
Julia Roberts noted that this will be the first time her children can vote in an election. She said, “She couldn’t be more excited for them to have the legacy to say that their first vote they ever cast for president was for you. I have just chills saying that out loud.”
Elis Ross was cited by The Hollywood Reporter, alluding to the Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance’s criticism of prominent Democrats as “childless cat ladies”. Ross added that as a “52-year-old childless woman,” she’s learned that “you do not need to push out a baby to help push humanity forward.”
Stating that the “world of the day has been preventable,” Meryl Streep was cited by the outlet as saying that she feels “the word of the day has been preventable,” adding that “all of this, the surround of hatred and venom and toxicity and encouraging some segment of Americans to hate other segments of Americans,” is preventable.
Meanwhile, before the November 5 elections, new polls showed that Vice President Harris was leading against former President Donald Trump.
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Reuters reported, quoting polling averages from aggregator FiveThirtyEight, that Harris was ahead in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, and North Carolina, while Trump had greater support in Georgia.
The latest polling average from The Hill shows Harris leading Trump nationally by an average of 49.8 per cent to 46 per cent.
According to NBC, a recent Marist poll of likely Pennsylvania voters conducted after the first presidential debate in Philadelphia shows Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump tied at 49 per cent, with both candidates within the margin of error.
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In another poll by the Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and Siena College, Harris is 50 per cent while Trump stands at 46 per cent.
Additionally, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that voters have a slightly more favourable view of Harris compared to July, shortly after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
(With inputs from ANI)