US talk show host Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday and called on her fellow independent voters to vote for “joy”.
In her rousing address to the US political party’s convention, Winfrey said: “We are so excited that we can’t wait to get out of here and do something”.
“And what we’re going to do is elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States. And we must choose happiness!” Winfrey said, a day after former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, addressed the DNC.
“Let us choose common sense over nonsense,” the 70-year-old television personality said to applause from thousands of attendees at Chicago’s United Center – the site of his globally acclaimed morning talk show.
“America is an ongoing project that requires commitment … and, from time to time, standing up to the oppressors of life.”
“So I appeal to all you independent and undecided candidates out there. You know this is true. You know I’m telling you the truth that values and character matter most,” she said.
Winfrey recalled her own experiences with racism, gender discrimination and income inequality in the United States, saying she had often faced them.
She took a dig at comments by Republican Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, who had called Democrats a “bunch of childless women with miserable lives” in a bid to target Harris.
Harris has two stepchildren and her comments prompted accusations that Vance, a father of three, represents a backwards Republican mindset.
“When a house catches fire, we don’t ask the race or religion of the homeowner … we just do everything we can to save them. And if that house belongs to a childless lady with a cat, we try to get that cat out of there too,” Winfrey said.
“We must choose common sense over bullshit. Common sense tells us that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us decency and respect,” she said at the conference, where she was among the warm-up acts for Walz’s address along with musicians Stevie Wonder and John Legend.
“Very soon we will be telling our sons and daughters how the child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father – two idealistic, energetic people – grew up to become the 47th President of the United States of America,” he said.
“This is the best thing about America.”
Harris will deliver her speech on Thursday when she accepts the Democratic presidential nomination.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
