Harris rallies with Beyoncé in Texas as Trump sits for hours with Joe Rogan : NPR

HOUSTON — The stands have been vibrating below the stomping ft of the gang at Shell Stadium in Houston Friday night time.

However Beyoncé hadn’t even come out but.

The group was chanting “Beat Ted Cruz,” as Cruz’s senate challenger, Democratic Congressman Colin Allred, raised his fist behind the rostrum on stage, cheering the gang of 30,000 attendees on.

Vice President Harris’ go to to Houston within the ultimate stretch to Election Day was partially to rally assist for Allred. However the focus was primarily to convey the highlight again on reproductive rights — within the place Harris has referred to as “floor zero” within the battle to limit abortion rights within the nation.

The Lonestar State could look like an uncommon cease with lower than two weeks till voting closes — it isn’t a swing state and former President Donald Trump is all however sure to hold it. However Trump and Harris each campaigned there on Friday, and the messages they every delivered to the state spotlight the urgency of their closing themes.

“I do know typically in Texas, people are like, ‘Is it price it? Would not make a distinction,'” Harris stated, nodding to the truth that she is unlikely to take this pink state. “You’re making a distinction. And momentum is on our aspect,” she stated.

Harris centered on Texas’ strict abortion ban at her rally in Houston, as Democrats have spent years hammering Republicans over unpopular crackdowns on reproductive rights — to nice success on the poll field.

The rally featured dozens of OB-GYNs in white coats and girls who advised their private tales about how their lives have been endangered by abortion bans — and blaming Trump for the trauma.

“This isn’t just a few theoretical idea. Actual hurt has occurred in our nation, an actual struggling has occurred,” Harris advised reporters touring along with her on Friday.

Harris underscored that the sorts of restrictions seen in Texas might occur in any state if Republicans have been to cross a nationwide abortion ban. Trump stated this month that he would veto such a ban.

Supporters look on as Harris at Shell Power Stadium in Houston. The Harris marketing campaign stated 30,000 supporters have been on the rally, her largest marketing campaign occasion thus far.

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs

Harris was launched by hometown celebrity Beyoncé, whose music “Freedom” has been Harris’ marketing campaign anthem, and Kelly Rowland, who rose to fame with Beyoncé as a part of the group Future’s Baby.

“I’m not right here as a politician. I’m right here as a mom. A mom who cares deeply concerning the world my kids and all of our kids dwell in,” Beyoncé stated.

“It’s time to sing a brand new music, a music that started 248 years in the past,” she stated. “The previous notes of downfall, discord, despair not resonate.”

Trump joined Joe Rogan for a three-hour interview

Former President Donald Trump offers remarks on border safety inside an airplane hanger on the Austin-Bergstrom Worldwide Airport in Austin, Texas, on Friday.

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photographs

Trump began his Texas pit cease in Austin, the place he largely centered on immigration, baselessly blaming Harris for crimes dedicated by undocumented migrants. “Kamala refuses to cease importing these killers into our nation. Each day she brings in additional,” Trump stated. “She’s obtained no regret in any respect for the harmless blood that is on her palms.”

At one level, he invited Alexis Nungaray, to talk. Nungary is the mom of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was allegedly killed by two males accused of coming into the nation illegally earlier this 12 months.

Trump repeated inflammatory assaults in opposition to immigrants, calling America a “rubbish can for the remainder of the world to dump the folks that they do not need.”

He additionally criticized a federal decide’s resolution Friday to revive the voting rights of greater than 1,600 individuals who had been purged from the state’s rolls, calling the ruling “un-American” and “election interference.”

Whereas in Texas, Trump taped a podcast with Joe Rogan, who has tens of millions of followers and an viewers overwhelmingly youthful and extra male — a key constituency for the previous president. The interview lasted three hours, making Trump three hours late for a rally in Traverse Metropolis, Michigan.

The interview touched on a variety of matters — from Trump’s previous appearances on The View and his years on The Apprentice to his ideas on extraterrestrial life and whether or not he would convey Robert F. Kennedy into his administration.

Trump additionally spoke about tariffs, saying they’d be a greater incentive to advertise chip making within the U.S., somewhat than the federal subsidies that the Biden administration has promoted.

At one level, Trump was requested about his current suggestion that the U.S. might eradicate earnings taxes altogether and exchange them with tariffs. Pressed by Rogan on whether or not he was critical about that, Trump responded, “Yeah, positive, however why not?”

Trump’s media technique this election cycle has relied closely on these social media-friendly, male-heavy podcasts and influencers that largely eschew probing coverage questions and paint the previous president as a pleasant, accessible determine.

The 2 appearances in Texas additionally underscore what might probably be the biggest gender hole in a current presidential election, with Trump rising assist amongst males and Harris amongst ladies.

That gender break up is mirrored within the audiences every candidate will probably be reaching by interviews they held Friday. Whereas Trump had Joe Rogan, Harris spoke with Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us, a podcast in style with ladies.