Oprah Winfrey to host virtual ‘Unite for America’ event for Harris

Oprah Winfrey is using her hosting experience to support Vice President Harris’s White House bid, headlining a virtual event aimed at connecting grassroots groups and bringing “together voters from all over the country.”

The former daytime talk show host will lead a free, livestreamed Sep. 19 event called “Unite for America,” organizers announced Monday. Winfrey is partnering with Win with Black Women and more than 140 other pro-Harris grassroots groups for the virtual gathering.

The effort’s goal is to connect voters from across the U.S. with each other in a discussion about “why they are supporting Kamala Harris, what’s at stake in this election and why voting in this presidential election matters,” according to a news release. Four hundred local voters will also attend the event in-person.

Plenty of demographic-based groups have popped up in various mobilization efforts in support of Harris since the vice president entered the White House race in July after President Biden dropped out. More than 40,000 people joined a Win with Black Women call that month, while a group called White Dudes for Harris raised more than $4 million during its own virtual meet-up. 

In a statement, Win with Black Women’s Jotaka Eaddy suggested Winfrey’s involvement in the September gathering was a no-brainer: “I cannot think of anyone better to host this event than Oprah Winfrey, who has brought Americans of different generations, backgrounds, and experiences together in conversation for decades.”

Winfrey backed then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in 2008’s presidential election, marking the first time she made a public political endorsement. 

Last month, the 70-year-old media mogul spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, identifying herself as an independent and telling the audience that “decency and respect are on the ballot” in November. 

Winfrey said in a message aimed at independent and undecided voters, “You know I’m telling you the truth, that values and character matter most of all, in leadership and in life.”