Beyoncé seems to be signaling her support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run through song.
On Monday, Harris made an appearance at her Wilmington, Delaware, campaign headquarters following President Joe Biden’s endorsement of her candidacy. As she made her big entrance, the vice president walked out to “Freedom,” a track off Beyoncé’s seminal 2016 album, “Lemonade.”
According to CNN, Beyoncé’s reps have officially granted Harris permission to use “Freedom,” which features a guest appearance by rapper Kendrick Lamar, while on the campaign trail ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
And the vice president seemingly doubled down on the song’s forward-thinking message of self-empowerment in her speech Monday.
“What kind of country do we want to live in: A country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law?” she told the crowd. “Or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?”
Though Beyoncé has not formally endorsed Harris, she has publicly backed Democratic presidential candidates in the past. In 2013, she performed the National Anthem at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, and three years later, headlined a pre-election concert for 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton.
She endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 with a short video posted on Instagram.
As for Harris, she attended the Washington, D.C., stop of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour last summer and has praised the 32-time Grammy winner in interviews. Speaking to People last year, she named “Break My Soul,” off of Beyoncé’s 2022 “Renaissance” album, as her favorite.
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“I play it all the time,” she told the publication. “I think it’s one of the anthems for women … when [Beyoncé says] ‘you,’ you could be life, you could be a person, you could be a situation. You will not break my soul. I can endure.”
While “Freedom” may be Harris’ unofficial campaign anthem for now, other pop artists appear to be vying for the vice president’s attention as well.
On Sunday, Charli XCX responded to early reports that Harris was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination on X, formerly Twitter, with a self-referential note.
“Kamala IS brat,” she wrote, alluding to the title of her latest album.
And on Monday, Katy Perry ― who endorsed Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 ― shared a short video featuring her latest single, “Woman’s World,” along with footage of Harris, on social media.