Beyoncé joins Harris at massive, electric rally in Texas

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With Beyoncé as her warm-up act, Kamala Harris filled a Houston stadium Friday night with a late campaign sweep through a state where a win for her is unlikely and where it wasn’t at stake. Deep in Texas, the vice president wanted the rest of the country to hear her message: Texas’ abortion ban could become the national standard if Donald Trump gets a second term in the White House.

“Freedom cannot be given. It cannot be given as a gift. It’s ours by right and we’re willing to fight for it because we understand what’s at stake,” Harris told a crowd filled with the kind of enthusiasm you’d normally see for mega-events like a World Series or, well, a Beyoncé tour. “Texas, you are ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom.”

The Harris campaign said the 30,000 people in attendance made it its largest rally yet. The biggest draw of the evening was, of course, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, the incomparable Houston artist. Although she didn’t perform, Beyonce and her former Destiny’s Child co-headliner Kelly Rowland introduced the vice president. And legend Willie Nelson, simply referred to as the “Texas Voter,” also performed a two-song set earlier in the evening. Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, also advocated for a Harris presidency.

But it was Queen Bey who understood the mission best. As one of the world’s most popular musicians, her political skills are used less often than other stars like Taylor Swift, who has also endorsed Harris. While Beyoncé has a clear history of supporting Democratic candidates, her brand extends beyond the traditional corners, and her comments landed right in that sweet zone.

“We are on the precipice of an incredible turning point, on the edge of history,” Beyoncé said in a packed Shell Energy Stadium as she introduced Harris. “I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I am here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world in which my children and all our children live. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world in which we are not divided.”

In addition to creating an event that drew national attention, the event served to boost Democrat Colin Allred, who previously spoke at the rally and is fighting to oust Ted Cruz in a surprisingly closely contested Senate race.

With Senate Democrats facing a particularly perilous situation, the Harris/Beyoncé event was part of a broader effort by Democrats to boost campaigns as a sort of last-minute insurance policy in the event that Harris fails in her bid for the White House prevails. If Republicans retake the Senate with a total of two seats, they could effectively veto Harris’ agenda. (The same goes for the House of Representatives, where Republicans are trying to maintain a narrow but stubborn majority.) In short, the reasons for visiting Republican-friendly Texas so close to Election Day were varied, and Harris was sure to get the response on the state’s near-total abortion ban could trigger action both for others within the state and for them in must-win swing states.

“Women have died because of Trump’s abortion bans,” Harris said. “In just four years as president, Donald Trump has reversed half a century of hard-fought progress for women. Now he wants to go even further. … If Trump wins again, he will ban abortion nationwide.”

Trump said he was proud to have appointed three justices who helped topple the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade and ended half a century of federal abortion protections. The former president has stressed his preference for states to set the standards themselves, a reality that has led to an inconsistent environment for those seeking abortions and a wildly inconsistent set of policies and practices.

When Harris made it clear that this is about so much more than just what’s happening in Texas, she clearly had the audience watching in other states in mind.

“Reproductive freedom is on the ballot in this presidential election and in 10 states across the country, including Arizona, Florida and Nevada,” she said. “With the work of everyone here, freedom will prevail.”

Republicans only need to win two Senate seats to have a majority and contain a possible Harris era. If Trump wins, Vice President JD Vance would be the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate if the GOP manages to pick up just one seat, and that’s almost a given since Sen. Joe Manchin has decided not to in West Virginia to run again; The Democrats have all but given up on this contest in a short period of time.

Harris’ alarmism about the prospect of Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress is not unfounded. Trump has already signaled that his return to power would not necessarily be marred by the amateurism of his first term. His allies in Washington have laid out a detailed agenda that Harris and her allies have weaponized so successfully that some Project 2025 authors have already been denied any access to Trump.

But abortion rights were at the heart of the evening’s message. One in three American women lives in a state where abortion is not an option. In Texas, for example, health care providers face prison time if they perform abortions, and there are cash incentives — bounties, actually — for Texans who report those who perform the procedure or help someone have one. That’s why about three dozen doctors in white coats took the stage before Harris, and several Texans spoke of their own personal crises in trying to enforce abortions for unviable pregnancies.

Read more: The Texas abortion case is even worse than you think

The evening was one that brought a large dose of enthusiasm for a campaign that has struggled to extricate the race from its coin-flip status. The line stretched block by block. Some arrived before dawn to ensure they had a prime seat when the doors opened in the late afternoon. With a vibe more reminiscent of a music festival than a political rally, there were plenty of newcomers to the election – which is exactly what Democrats need if they want a shot at the Senate race – or perhaps the longest shot to the state’s 40 electoral votes.

From a political perspective, Harris described the event as a rally about reproductive rights, which is frankly lacking in Texas. But the crowd was a far cry from those in the stadium.

The message, at least within the concert, which happened to have a political PSA sprinkled in, seemed to have accomplished its mission on a superficial level. That’s why, as TIME’s Charlotte Alter recently reported, Democrats are suddenly confident that the election outcome could hinge on abortion rights.

“I’m not really interested in politics, but I wanted to come and see for myself,” said Lakeita Crawford, a 32-year-old self-employed person from Houston. “I feel like people want to support Kamala, but she had to come and connect with us. I’m not a fan of Donald Trump, but I want to be here to hear Harris.”

Across the soccer field, 24-year-old Jasman Worthy stood at the top of the barricade at her first-ever political event. “Girl power,” she said enthusiastically. “We have to support Kamala. She gets Houston and we have to get her back.”

As such, the communal nature of the evening suggests that Harris may have tapped into a political stream that few have been able to credibly reach. Movements rarely come together in such a short period of time, but they also tend to lack built-in brand loyalty like Beyoncé’s. As such, their campaign does little to dampen the inherent ferocity of this icon.

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