Kamala Harris headed to Texas on Friday to deliver what her campaign bills as a major speech on abortion rights — and Queen Bey is finally joining her campaign in person.
The Democratic presidential candidate is taking a rare detour outside of the battleground states to denounce the draconian abortion ban in the Republican-run Lone Star State.
“More than any other state, the nightmare playing out in Texas for women is emblematic of the harm Donald Trump’s abortion bans have caused across the nation,” the Harris campaign said in a statement previewing her speech.
With less than two week to go before Election Day, Harris will also get a big boost from Beyoncé, who is getting off the sidelines to perform at the rally in the pop superstar’s hometown of Houston.
The 32-time Grammy winner will appear along with country music legend Willie Nelson, another Texas native, three campaign sources told the Associated Press.
Harris has used the Beyoncé anthem “Freedom” as her walk-on music at rallies since launching her campaign in July, but Friday’s rally will be their first joint appearance on the trail.
Former President Trump is also jetting into the Lone Star State for an appearance on the popular podcast hosted by Joe Rogan. He plans to hold a press conference at the Austin airport as well.
The candidates’ same-day detour to Texas illustrate in stark terms the divergent approaches of their campaigns in the home stretch leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5.
Harris, who is leading by a wide margin with women voters, is stressing reproductive rights and is portraying herself as the can-do leader of a big-tent coalition including independents and even moderate Republicans.
She touted endorsements from ex-Rep. Fred Upton, a GOP moderate, and the mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin, a Milwaukee suburb that was once a Republican stronghold but has shifted away from the party in the age of Trump.
Trump, who boasts a big lead among men, is pushing to excite his base of supporters to vote, especially white men without a college degree.
He’s going on the Joe Rogan Experience to reach the estimated 15 million predominantly male followers of the host known as the oracle of bro culture.
Although Rogan has mostly taken right-wing stands in the past, he has praised Harris and criticized Trump at times during the campaign.
Both campaigns also plan to spotlight the tight U.S. Senate contest between incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz and challenger Rep. Colin Allred.
With early voting underway and more than 2.5 million votes already cast in the state, polls show Cruz with only a narrow lead even as Trump maintains a more comfortable edge in the state that awards 40 electoral votes.
The end-of-the-week stops in Texas come after Thursday night battleground rallies for both candidates.
Harris was set to speak in Atlanta for a rally along with former President Barack Obama, their first appearance together on the 2024 campaign trail.
Bruce Springsteen will perform along with other stars like filmmaker Spike Lee, Tyler Perry and actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Trump planned to jet to the southwest to address rallies Thursday night in Arizona and Nevada, two other tightly matched battleground states.
The campaign is now entering the home stretch and nearly 30 million people have already voted early from coast to coast.
Polls say the race remains a pure toss up with Harris clinging to a lead in the Rust Belt blue wall states that she likely needs to win and Trump slightly ahead in some Sun Belt swing states.
