US musician Bruce Springsteen performs during a campaign rally with former US President Barack Obama supporting US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the James R Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, Georgia on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / Agence France-Presse)
ATLANTA, United States — Bruce Springsteen took the stage Thursday at Kamala Harris’s star-studded campaign rally in swing state Georgia, with the rock legend warning that White House hopeful Donald Trump aims to be an “American tyrant.”
Harris is cranking up the celebrity wattage – including with Beyonce in Texas on Friday, according to reports – at a series of concerts in battleground states to boost support in the final days of a nail-biting election.
Thursday’s rally in Atlanta is also Harris’s first campaign stop with Barack Obama, the only Black president in American history and who remains widely popular with Democratic voters.
But it was Springsteen’s gritty commentary at the start that echoed through the packed rally, where the iconic singer said he would “oppose” the Republican former president because “Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant.”
Large numbers of Americans, including about 2.2 million in Georgia, have already cast ballots in early voting, reflecting intense engagement ahead of Election Day on November 5.
Springsteen brought his brand of socially conscious, working-class anthems including “The Promised Land” to get out the vote and bolster Harris’s blue-collar credentials.
The vice president herself had raised the stakes further in a CNN appearance late Wednesday when she said she considers 78-year-old Trump to be a “fascist” – as charged in a bombshell interview by the Republican’s former chief of staff John Kelly.
READ: Bruce Springsteen backs Kamala Harris, warns against Trump’s return
Trump, the oldest major presidential nominee in US history and the first to be running with a criminal record, is also casting the election as an existential battle for the United States.
But it will have profound personal implications too, given he is the subject of serious criminal probes into his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his post-presidential hoarding of top-secret documents.
The Republican was campaigning Thursday in the western battleground of Arizona where he conjured dark imagery of migrant violence and warned that America had become “a dumping ground” for dangerous and undocumented immigrants.
“We’re like a garbage can for the world,” Trump said.
Trump ‘revenge’
In a radio interview on his way to the rally in Arizona and then another in Nevada – both swing states – Trump announced that if elected he’d fire the special prosecutor overseeing his remaining cases in “seconds.”
Harris, 60, for her part assailed Trump for “plotting revenge and retribution” against his political enemies, and took a swipe at his energy levels.
“The sad part about that is he’s trying to be president of the United States – probably the toughest job in the world – and he’s exhausted,” Harris told reporters.
The election remains a toss-up, with the two candidates jostling within the margin of error in polls from all the swing states set to tip the overall national result.
Former US President Barack Obama hold hands with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) during a campaign rally at the James R Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, Georgia on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / Agence France-Presse)
US media reported Thursday that Beyonce – whose hit “Freedom” is already the Harris campaign’s signature song – will join the Democrat when she visits Houston on Friday to highlight abortion rights.
Obama, 63, has been making his own headlining appearances in support of Harris in a slew of swing states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
The Harris campaign hopes the former president will reverse fears of eroding support among Black voters.
Harris, 60, is of mixed Black and South Asian heritage, and is vying to become the country’s first female president.
READ: Kamala Harris showcases Springsteen in star-studded swing state stop
Harris ‘made’ American Dream ‘unreachable ‘
Trump was expected to attack Harris’s economic policies at a rally in Tempe, Arizona.
His campaign said the current vice president had “made the American Dream of home ownership unreachable for young Americans and families.”
But in his 55-minute address Trump made zero mention of soaring housing costs, opting instead to blame Harris for a “migrant invasion” that has overwhelmed American cities.
“No person who is responsible for so much bloodshed and death on our soil can ever be allowed to become the president of the United States,” he said.
Trump then was set to attend a Las Vegas rally aimed at recruiting volunteers and celebrating the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Like Harris, Trump also heads Friday to Texas, where he is to deliver remarks on border security.