By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose
CLARKSTON, Georgia (Reuters) -Thousands gathered to hear Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the battleground state of Georgia on Thursday for a star-studded rally with rock legend Bruce Springsteen, entertainer Tyler Perry and former President Barack Obama.
Ahead of Harris’ remarks, film director Spike Lee warned a packed crowd at the James R. Hallford Stadium not to be “bamboozled” into voting for Donald Trump, and Springsteen performed melancholy laments “The Promised Land,” and “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
“Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant. He does not understand this country, its history or what it means to be American,” Springsteen said, as he encouraged the crowd to vote for Harris.
About 20,000 people were attending, her campaign said, which would make it her largest political rally yet, besting the 17,000 Harris drew in Greensboro, North Carolina in early September.
It is the latest attempt by the Harris campaign to capitalize on the backing of movie and music stars to rally voters in the closing days of a tight election race against Republican rival Donald Trump.
On Friday, she will appear with Beyonce in Houston, Texas.
Harris’ whirlwind campaign started with a big jump in polls after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July, but her lead has narrowed in national polls and evaporated in the battleground states that will decide the U.S. election.
Celebrity endorsers add cultural cachet to candidates, and have typically helped campaigns raise money, turn out crowds at rallies and generate excitement on social media. For both the Harris and Trump campaigns, they are part of the down-to-the-wire blitz to mobilize voters ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.
Thursday’s rally will also mark the first time Harris and Obama will campaign together. Harris is also slated to appear with Michelle Obama on Saturday in Michigan, one of seven swing states expected to decide the winner.
The latest polls in Georgia show Trump with a slight lead, but Harris campaign officials say they remain confident the state, along with its neighbor North Carolina, are still in play come November. President Joe Biden pulled off a surprise victory in Georgia in 2020, and Democrats won two hard-fought Senate seats there that gave them control of both houses in Congress for the first half of Biden’s term.
Some 1.9 million residents have already cast their ballot in Georgia, according to the secretary of state’s office.
On Monday, Springsteen, 75, will also appear in Philadelphia with Obama.
In 2016, Springsteen played a three-song set at a rally in front of 20,000 people at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign on the eve of the election. In 2008, Springsteen played a seven-song set for tens of thousands on the city’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway to urge people to register and vote for Obama.
Taylor Swift, Pink, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Lizzo and many other celebrities have endorsed Harris and her running mate Tim Walz. Swift’s endorsement of Harris via an Instagram post this September has now received more than 11 million likes.
Trump supporters from the entertainment world include musicians Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Jason Aldean, wrestler Hulk Hogan, who spoke at this summer’s Republican National Convention, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, actor Dennis Quaid, and TV star Amber Rose.
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose; Editing by Mary Milliken, Heather Timmons, Deepa Babington, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)
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