NBC News reports:
Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey, in the first of several campaign stops to boost Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Thursday, told the cheering crowd that they are poised “on the precipice of a historic election.”
“I want to tell you…no one paid for me to come here. No one asked me to come here,” Winfrey said at a rally in Marietta, adding that she is both an independent woman, and a registered political independent. “I came for myself and I approve this message.”
Winfrey, who took the stage to booming applause, said she wanted to come to Georgia to support Abrams because she saw how Abrams is “handling herself” amid an onslaught of “haters.” “You keep it coming on,” Winfrey said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday a vote for Brian Kemp is tantamount to support for President Donald Trump, as he assailed Democrat Stacey Abrams and her high-profile supporters at a rally that attracted thousands in Dalton. Claiming that Abrams is “bankrolled by Hollywood liberals,” he blasted Oprah Winfrey’s appearance with the Democrat at a pair of town halls in metro Atlanta, as well as actor Will Ferrell’s recent campaign appearance in Georgia.
“I heard Oprah is in town today. I heard Will Ferrell was going door-to-door the other day. I’d like to remind Stacey and Oprah and Will Ferrell, I’m kind of a big deal, too,” said Pence. “And I’ve got a message for all of Stacey Abrams’ liberal Hollywood friends: This ain’t Hollywood. This is Georgia. And Georgia wants a governor that’s going to put Georgia values and Georgia first. And Brian Kemp is going to do just that.”
Rewind the live clip below to see Oprah’s rousing speech.
I’m not terribly eager for another media star President, but this Oprah speech … there’s a reason Oprah’s one of the biggest stars of recent decades. this speech makes it pretty clear her magic translates REALLY well into politics https://t.co/EGWjOGKNAR via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 1, 2018
Oprah at Stacey Abrams rally: “All of us may have been created equal. But if you’re woke – woke just a little bit – you have sense to know everyone is not treated equally.”
— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) November 1, 2018
Oprah gets biggest cheer from crowd about Stacey Abrams’ support of gun safety: “We know people in Georgia want to hunt! But since when have we lost commonsense from commonsense?”
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) November 1, 2018
.@Oprah: “Only when we unite as sisters, and I don’t mean _sistahs_, I mean sisters — black sisters, brown sisters, white sisters, LGBTQ sisters — we know change is gonna come.” ✊?✊?✊?
Watch live as Oprah speaks to @staceyabrams: https://t.co/FY0oROtRMZ
— Planned Parenthood Black Community (@PPBlackComm) November 1, 2018
History suggests this could really matter. Researchers estimated that Oprah’s endorsement won Obama 1 million additional votes in the 2008 primaries. https://t.co/Nv2t37gj5g
— Vox (@voxdotcom) November 1, 2018