Kamala Harris Explains to Oprah Winfrey Why She Has a Gun

'If somebody's breaking into my house they're gettin' shot'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 20, 2024 12:00 AM CDT
Kamala Harris Explains to Oprah Winfrey Why She Has a Gun
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris answers an audience member's question as she joins Oprah Winfrey at Oprah's Unite for America Live Streaming event Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in Farmington Hills, Mich.   (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Vice President Kamala Harris looked for a boost with persuadable and less-motivated voters as she participated in a livestream Thursday evening with former talk show host Oprah Winfrey to focus on her plans to cut costs for the middle class, restore a national right to abortion, and address gun violence, the AP reports. The event, billed as "Unite for America," and hosted by Winfrey from suburban Michigan, one of this election's key battlegrounds, sought to tap into the same energy as Winfrey's long-running talk show, which drove bestseller lists and allowed celebrities to share their softer side and everyday people to share stories of struggle and inspiration.

It leaned on celebrities like Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Lopez, and Meryl Streep, but also the stories of ordinary voters to promote Harris' message over the course of 90 minutes and to draw a contrast with Donald Trump. More than 300,000 people were watching the Harris campaign livestream on YouTube alone and the event was also being streamed on other major social media platforms. At one point Harris reminded viewers that she owns a gun—which surprised Winfrey—saying, "If somebody's breaking into my house they're gettin' shot." She added, "I probably shouldn't have said that." She later said that assault-style rifles, however, were designed to kill as many people as possible on a battlefield, and "don't belong on the streets of a civil society." (Much more from the event here.)

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