Kamala Harris in Michigan event with Oprah: Action needed on gun violence, economic hurdles

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris told a crowd in suburban Detroit Thursday that people are finding the American dream “far more elusive than it’s been” and the country needs to “deal with that.”

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, laid out her stances on boosting the economy and talked about combating gun violence — and what would happen if someone broke into her home — during a 90-minute campaign event moderated by talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

There was an audience of about 400 people inside the film studio in Farmington Hills and many thousands more watching the discussion virtually. The title of the event, occurring 47 days before the election, was “Unite for America.” It was part town hall meeting, part campaign commercial, featuring actress Julia Roberts, actor Bryan Cranston and comedian Chris Rock.

Harris’ supporters acknowledged Thursday that her race with Republican nominee Donald Trump was close. Her campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, said it was “tied in all of the battleground states.” It’s a contest that has been increasingly focusing on economics in recent weeks, with Harris taking two questions from the crowd on the topic.

“My approach is about lifting you up,” Harris said at one point. “His would be about actually weakening our economy.”

A young couple from Pennsylvania asked Harris what she would do to lower the cost of living. And a graduate student from Virginia asked what Harris would do about the affordability of homes.

“Everything is just so expensive,” said the student named Shelby.

Harris said she’s heard from young people who were finding the American dream “far more elusive than it’s been.”

“We need to deal with that,” Harris said.

The vice president said she would work to combat price gouging, provide $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time home buyers and a $50,000 tax deduction for start-up small businesses and expand per-child tax credits.

Trump, the former president, would give another tax cut to billionaires and large corporations, Harris told the crowd. Trump would “invite a recession,” and he would “blow up inflation” by placing tariffs on goods brought into the United States for sale, the vice president added.

Winfrey led the discussion Thursday night in front of a backdrop that identified the setting as Michigan’s Oakland County.

“I am here because I care deeply about the future of our country,” Winfrey said in her opening remarks from the studio.

During the event, Winfrey weaved between live video feeds for comments from celebrities and people from across the country with personal stories surrounding the economy and abortion.

One of the audience members featured was Hadley Duvall, a 22-year-old woman who has emerged as an abortion rights advocate in the presidential election, recounting how she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old, became pregnant as a seventh-grader and eventually miscarried.

“When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I woke up with the harsh reality that my abuse is over, but my story is not,” Duvall said inside the studio. “And I just could not fathom thinking about the other Hadleys out there.”

Duvall is featured in a new Harris campaign ad.

“Hadley, you’ve been so remarkable in telling your story,” Harris told the young woman.

During a segment of the program on gun violence, Harris said the country needs to have the “courage to act” to prevent students from having to worry about someone opening fire inside their schools. But she also identified herself as a gun owner sand said if someone breaks into her home, “they’re getting shot.”

“I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris said.

But she criticized assault weapons.

“It’s literally designed to be a tool of war,” Harris said. “It has no place on the streets of a civil society. It’s designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly.”

The event started at about 8 p.m., three hours after Harris’ plane landed at Detroit Metro Airport.

The group greeting her at the airport included children from the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Oakland County Executive David Coulter.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who spoke during the event, described the race between Harris and Trump as close.

“We’ve got to do the hard work,” Whitmer said. “In 2016, we were short 11,000 votes. That’s two votes per precinct, which tells you that a conversation you have with a loved one or a neighbor or a fellow parishioner, whoever in your life you can talk to, we’ve got do it.”

Trump is the only Republican presidential nominee since 1988 to carry Michigan. He won the state against Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by less than 1 percentage point, 47.5%-47.3%, or about 10,700 votes. But four years later, in 2020, Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden by 3 percentage points statewide, 48%-51%.

Trump was in Flint for a town hall Tuesday night. In addition, Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, was in rural Kent County on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s clear Kamala Harris has no idea how to tackle our economic crisis,” said Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign in Michigan. “Her policies got Michiganders into this mess, and she’s offered no plan on how to fight inflation.

“Well, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t lower inflation by hiding goodie bags under chairs. Michiganders can’t afford life right now — four more years is unimaginable.”

Rock, the comedian, was among a group of celebrities who participated in Thursday night’s event virtually. Rock said he started giving campaign contributions to Harris when she was a local prosecutor in California.

“Maybe, it was to get out of a parking ticket or something,” Rock joked.