On Election Day, the night before the crucial event, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held their final campaign rallies. Unlike Harris, Trump has had difficulty attracting A-list celebrities, and he has shown signs of envy—disguised as dubious facts, of course. Indeed, while celebrities like Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and Jon Bon Jovi rallied for Harris in Philadelphia, Trump had to settle for appearances by his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former Fox News host and conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly, and the son of baseball star Roberto Clemente.
Trump was notably unimpressed with Harris' celebrity lineup. During his rally in Pittsburgh, which coincided with Harris' event in the city, the former president took a swipe at Harris for a particular celebrity endorsement: Beyoncé. He disparaged Beyoncé’s appearance at a Harris rally in Houston last month, saying, “Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness.” Beyoncé did not perform but was joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, delivering a spirited speech that was met with cheers.
Earlier, Beyoncé had allowed the Harris campaign to use her track ‘Freedom’ as its anthem—a song the Trump campaign also attempted to use, prompting the singer’s record label to send a cease-and-desist letter. Trump suggested Harris should have learned from Hillary Clinton’s approach and had Beyoncé speak after her, reasoning, “That way the people stay.” In 2016, Beyoncé performed at a campaign event for Democratic nominee Clinton in Cleveland, just days before the election.
Trump insisted his campaign doesn't rely on celebrities to draw a crowd, stating, “We don’t need a star because we have policy. We have great policy.” Megyn Kelly, who delivered a fiery speech at Trump’s closing rally, represented a full-circle moment after the former president called her “nasty” in 2016. When Kelly was a Fox News host in 2016, she questioned Trump during the first debate of the Republican primary about his temperament to be president. Trump largely dismissed her question but later targeted her directly.
“She’s not very tough and not very sharp,” Trump told CNN in a phone interview. “I don’t respect her as a journalist.” Referring to Kelly’s questions during the debate, Trump said, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” The comment was widely seen as a sexist reference to menstruation. Trump later boycotted another debate on Fox because Kelly was one of the moderators. The rift appears to have been mended, as Kelly defended Trump against recent controversies, including his pledge to be the “protector” of women and his opposition to transgender athletes participating in sports.
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