Celebrities host Philadelphia rally in support of Harris campaign

A Philadelphia rally held by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party on Monday, Oct. 28, illustrated the pivotal role Pennsylvania will play in this year’s presidential election. Former President Barack Obama, 12-time Grammy Award winner John Legend and New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen all took to the stage at Temple University’s The Liacouras Center for “When We Vote We Win,” a last-minute series of rallies traveling through the swing states. 

Candidates of both parties have courted celebrity endorsements in hopes of energizing voters as current polling for the state’s presidential and Senate races suggest a dead heat. For Democrats, this has meant recruiting stars to appear alongside local candidates. At Liacouras, musical performances were interspersed with speeches by Senator Bob Casey, who is seeking reelection; State Representative and Drexel alum Malcolm Kenyatta, who is seeking the state Auditor General office; Cherelle Parker, mayor of Philadelphia; and Joanna McClinton, Speaker of the Pennsylvania State House.

All this star power delivered PA Dems a near-capacity crowd at the venue and drew some of the Gen Z voters the party hoped to connect with, though they appeared outnumbered by older attendees. Monday night’s turnout resembled that of the first Harris-Walz Temple rally on Aug. 6, which was packed with approximately 10,000 fans. The more abrupt notice for Monday’s event and limited registration did not seem to hurt attendance, with over 1,000 energetic attendees lined up half an hour before the doors opened at 3:00 p.m. 

Appearing at about 6:40 p.m., Cherelle Parker led the crowd in a deafening chant of “Kamala Harris — for the people!” 

After attesting to the “serious business we have to take care of in eight days,” Parker turned the stage over to John Legend.

“We have the choice to choose better, bolder, brighter. To choose progress, healing and joy,” Legend professed midway through a four-song set. 

The first artist to the stage, he performed a cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” followed by a tribute to “Wake Up!” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, while reminiscing about his first appearance at Liacouras alongside Alicia Keys in 2005. He followed with “Ordinary People,” from his first album and ended with a rendition of  “Glory.”

Before introducing Bruce Springsteen, Bob Casey took the time to call out his opponent Dave McCormick, citing his history as a “hedge fund CEO” and contending that he was dishonest about his background as a farmer and Pennsylvania resident. 

Springsteen then appeared for acoustic renditions of “The Promised Land,” “Land of Hope and Dreams” and “Dancing in the Dark,” all while urging voters to pick the candidate with respect for them and the Constitution.

“If somebody tells you this election doesn’t matter, it makes a difference when you have a leader who sees you and cares about you,” Obama echoed after Springsteen, responding to undecided voters. “Any election is more than just about policy, it’s also about values.” 

Donald Trump was called out numerous times throughout the rally, with Obama criticizing Trump’s previous claims about the distribution of the Disaster Relief Fund allocated for the victims of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, in addition to racist comments made by invited speakers at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27. The former president especially decried the tone and tactics of Trump’s campaign.

“When did that become okay?” Obama further implored the audience, after relaying Trump’s claim at a Michigan rally that accused Harris of spending the “FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.”

Trump has not appeared in Philadelphia since a June rally, though he has frequented the collar counties, visiting a Bucks County McDonald’s minutes north of the city. His approach seems to target undecided voters in the remainder of the state. Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance appeared in South Philly in August.

Also notably absent were both Harris and her vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, who were campaigning together in Michigan on Monday. However, Harris spent her Sunday in the city, appearing at Black-owned businesses and a church in West Philly, and later a recreation center in North Philly.

Philadelphia has hosted a variety of events, with the past weekend hosting a free concert and festival in partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers. Philaland featured pop star Benson Boone headlining the show, marking his biggest yet. American actors and film producers Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and actress Tessa Thompson, famous for her role as Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok, also took the stage at the TD Pavilion at the Mann on Saturday, Oct. 26 to encourage early voting in Pennsylvania.

As a part of the carefully-curated playlist by DJ Diamond Kuts, Bad Bunny’s “Titi Me Pregunto” was included one day after the Puerto Rican superstar shared a clip on social media of Harris’ plan and support for the island shortly after an offensive joke was made by a speaker at Trump’s rally in New York. With a growing population of almost 500,000 Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania, both candidates are attempting to gain the votes and support from this community that will hold sway in the battleground state. 

With countless eyes on Pennsylvania, it is the center of political attention for the moment – a fact not lost on residents. Pennsylvanians have been inundated with presidential and political campaign messaging all year, but advertising has reached a peak as Election Day, Nov. 5, draws near. Texts, phone calls, mail and commercials all point to the estimated $500 million to $1 billion being poured into the state by political action committees and campaigns.