Media Now Claims No One ‘Actually’ Said Beyoncé Would Perform at Rally

Beyonce Kamala Harris

When the reality that Beyoncé would not be performing at Vice President Kamala Harris’s Friday rally in Houston set in, supporters weren’t shy about expressing their anger and profound disappointment. Although the Harris campaign itself never said the superstar would sing her 2016 hit song “Freedom,” which has become the campaign’s anthem, at the event, scores of media outlets reported beforehand that Beyoncé would be performing. They based their stories on conversations with anonymous sources who were “familiar with the plan.”

Ahead of the event, NPR’s headline read, “BeyHive meets KHive: Beyoncé set to perform at Houston rally for Harris.” Clever.

USA Today told readers: “Watch live: Beyoncé returns to hometown of Houston to perform at Kamala Harris rally.”

NBC News reported, “Pop superstar Beyoncé will appear with Vice President Kamala Harris at her event in Houston on Friday evening, according to three sources familiar with the plans. Beyoncé is also expected to perform, according to one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the preparations.” [Emphasis added.]

But when the iconic singer took the stage at the abortion rights-themed rally, she told supporters, “I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. Your freedom is your God-given right, your human right.”

Beyoncé then endorsed the vice president and exited the stage without performing, leaving attendees furious, frustrated, and difficult to control.

With a nervous grin plastered to her face, Harris tried to calm the unruly crowd, who greeted her with a chorus of boos and shouts.

Reports of the Harris campaign’s “bait and switch” swirled on social media.

The Daily Mail summed up the situation:

Some fans had waited more than 12 hours before packing into the city’s Shell Energy Stadium expecting a performance, after rumors she would sing swirled online and the Washington Post reported on her expected appearance.

Attendees reported seeing people marching towards the exit as soon as she left the stage.

The fury was palpable on social media, where fans complained they had been ‘bamboozled’ by the billing.

‘Bait and switch crowd building,’ one person fumed. ‘Promised a performance to bring people in and they went streaming to the exits when Beyoncé left the stage.’

‘She can’t even deliver on promises to her own followers with a Beyoncé Performance, but yes she will totally close the border and stuff. Kamala Harris is a mess,’ another added.

The brouhaha left both the Harris campaign and the media with egg on their faces. Recognizing that support for their standard bearer has stalled, and even begun slipping away at the most critical time in the election cycle, they clearly raised expectations of a Beyoncé mini-concert to draw a huge crowd to the Houston rally.

In a Saturday morning post on X, Senior Trump campaign adviser Tim Murtaugh wrote: “THEY LIED TO BUILD A CROWD!!”

In what was one of the more amusing responses to the bait and switch, RedState’s Bonchie noted, “Watching this campaign operate is like watching a naked man smear himself in honey and run through a bear cage.”

He’s not wrong!

Scrambling for a way to restore their credibility, they’re now claiming that no one actually said Beyonce was going to perform at the rally, which is categorically false.

Murtaugh noted the new messaging and cried “foul” in a Sunday morning post on X. He wrote: “It’s not disputable that the Harris campaign lied about Beyoncé’s appearance at the Texas event to build a crowd. Yet, the Media now says: ACTUALLY, NO ONE SAID BEYONCÉ WAS GOING TO PERFORM AT THE HARRIS RALLY!”

Although expectations that Beyoncé would perform at the Democratic National Conventions weren’t raised to the same degree as they were ahead of the Houston rally, it’s fair game for voters to make comparisons.

But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this story is how representative it is of the whole Harris campaign, which itself has been one big bait and switch. Despite its stated themes of joy and good vibes, turning the page, and forging a new way forward, the Harris campaign has been based on one dishonest talking point: Trump is a fascist who will destroy our democracy. No matter what question Harris is asked, she reverts to the same message. Following her disastrous CNN Town Hall last week, even Democrats were forced to admit the truth.

Three weeks ago, the Harris campaign’s momentum came to a standstill. Since then, her national lead over former President Donald Trump has evaporated and he has taken the lead in all seven battleground states. Well aware of the new reality, the campaign has shifted from strategic mode into desperation mode.

Desperation doesn’t look good on anyone. Especially on a weak candidate who never should have been placed at the top of the ticket in the first place.


Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.

Tags: 2024 Presidential Election, Culture, Hollywood, Houston, Kamala Harris, Media

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