By Trevor Hunnicutt, Stephanie Kelly and Georgina McCartney
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Superstar singer Beyonce took the stage at a rally for Kamala Harris in Houston on Friday night, not to sing but to offer her first public political appearance this election cycle at a crucial moment for the Democratic presidential candidate.
Beyonce, a Houston native, walked on stage to roaring applause from the crowd of some 30,000 attending Vice President Harris' abortion rights-themed rally, alongside fellow former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland.
Instead of singing, she addressed the crowd for several minutes.
"I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother," Beyonce said. "Your freedom is your God-given right, your human right."
She then introduced Harris, who walked onstage to what has become her campaign anthem: the song "Freedom" from Beyonce's 2016 album "Lemonade." Beyonce gave the vice president a long embrace before exiting.
Harris' summertime lead over Republican opponent Donald Trump in the race for the Nov. 5 election has all but evaporated, national opinion polls show, and she is within the margin of error in the battleground states that will likely decide the election, her campaign says.
But she has picked up a considerable advantage over Trump with women, who most polls and surveys show make up much of Beyonce's audience. Harris led Trump by 49% to 36%, or 13 percentage points, among women voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published late in August.
"Beyonce is one of the entertainment industry’s most powerful women at a historic time when (politically and positionally) the most powerful woman in the U.S. is running for U.S. President," said Melvin L. Williams, a communications professor at Pace University.
Williams said he was uncertain that Beyonce would reach voters who have questions about Harris. "We must acknowledge that celebrities are great political advertisers, but they are not guarantors of political victory for candidates," he added.
The rally in Beyonce's hometown caps a string of political appearances and politically charged artistic works. In 2008, Beyonce's husband Jay-Z held a rally for Barack Obama, while Beyonce sang the national anthem and the Etta James classic "At Last" at Obama's 2009 inauguration.
She performed a rally for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and endorsed Joe Biden and Harris in 2020 on Instagram.
Beyonce, whose Instagram account has 314 million followers, offers Harris access to a segment of the U.S. population, especially Black and younger voters, that is deemed crucial in a closely contested race against Trump.
Hollywood celebrities, including actors Julia Roberts and Jane Fonda, are campaigning for Harris, as are musicians Bruce Springsteen, Usher and Lizzo. Trump has won the endorsement of Ultimate Fighting stars, wrestler Hulk Hogan and musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.
Young female residents of Houston were mixed on the politically charged performance of the city's biggest star.
"Beyonce is a national icon because at the end of the day, we all are people with our own views and values. Beyonce is brave enough to stand by her values in the face of people judging her for it," said Nadira Smith, 27.
But Sydney Mukavetz, 25, originally from Michigan, who has been living in Houston for a year, said she thought celebrities at political rallies was a "little weird."
"It feels like an endorsement and a performance are very different," Mukavetz said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Georgina McCartney in Houston, Stephanie Kelly in New York and Gabriella Borter in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons, Matthew Lewis and William Mallard)
