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Not quite a full-throated endorsement, but the use of the pop star’s song “Freedom” marked a moment.
The Beyoncé anthems returned to the campaign trail this week.
On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris walked out during her visit to campaign headquarters in Wilmington, De., as Beyoncé’s song, “Freedom,” blared through the speakers in the background. Ms. Harris, 59, spoke to her supporters after President Biden, 81, stepped away from his re-election campaign on Sunday and endorsed her as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.
On Tuesday, Ms. Harris used the song again during her first campaign rally in Wisconsin.
The song from the Grammy winner’s sixth studio album, “Lemonade,” which features Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar, is intended to be used during Ms. Harris’s campaign events for the next 15 weeks leading up to Election Day, according to a CNN report.
The Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Musicians have been both supportive and have objected to politicians using their work as backdrops. After Donald Trump used the R.E.M. songs “Everybody Hurts” and “Losing My Religion” during campaign rallies, the band threatened legal action. Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” became a kind of anthem for President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign.
Beyoncé was not available for comment.
But in the past, she has come out publicly in support of candidates. At a rally, three days before the 2016 election, for the then-Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, Beyoncé sang formation and then framed the election in the context of the feminist movement.
“I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman leading the country,” Beyoncé said to roars from the crowd in 2016. “That’s why I’m with her,” she added, echoing Mrs. Clinton’s campaign slogan.
In 2013, she sang the national anthem at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, and in 2009, she sang a cover of Etta James’s “At Last” at the Inaugural Ball for the Obamas.
Her mother, Tina Knowles, has come out publicly for Ms. Harris: “New, Youthful, Sharp, energy!!!!” Ms. Knowles wrote under a photo of her with the candidate on Instagram. “Kamala 2024,” she wrote.
Other celebrities have already voiced their support for Ms. Harris. Most notably, pop starlet Charlie XCX, who posted on X: “kamala IS brat.” The official Harris campaign account quickly updated its header to match the color and typography of the album. Others include Barbra Streisand, Kesha, Katy Perry, George Clooney, Janelle Monae and John Legend.