Kamala Harris walks out to Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ in her 1st appearance as a presidential candidate

Vice President Harris gets ready to speak to campaign staff at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., on Monday. Harris won the crucial backing of Democratic heavyweight Nancy Pelosi to lead the party against former President Donald Trump in November after President Biden’s stunning exit from the 2024 race. As the endorsements stacked up, the 59-year-old Harris made her first public appearance since Biden’s announcement in a ceremony at the White House, where she warmly praised the outgoing president’s “unmatched” achievements.

Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris made a statement in song with her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate: On Monday, just one day after President Biden bowed out of the race and endorsed her, Harris’ entrance at her Delaware campaign headquarters was scored by “Freedom,” Beyoncé’s 2016 anthem featuring Kendrick Lamar from the artist’s sixth studio album, Lemonade.

According to source confirmation from CNN, as soon as Harris’ team reached out with the request to play the track on the campaign trail, Beyoncé’s representatives immediately approved the use of the Grammy-winning anthem, a record turnaround considering the superstar’s normally strict clearance policies.

“Freedom” marches under the banner of Black resilience and strength, playing on the history of civil rights activism in the United States with Bey singing, “I break chains all by myself / Won’t let my freedom rot in hell / Hey! I’ma keep running cause a winner don’t quit on themselves” to close out the guttural chorus. Beyoncé and Lamar, the featured guest on the track, famously delivered a rare and electrifying performance of the song at the 2016 BET Awards. As Harris, an avid Beyoncé fan, begins her campaigning sprint with just four months until Election Day, she tied the themes to the ethos of her political run: “In this election, we know we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” she said during the headquarters speech. “A country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

Queen Bey and the VP have maintained a close relationship since Harris took public office. Harris was in attendance for Beyoncé’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour in 2023, a night out worth over $1,500 per ticket that was later revealed to be a personal gift from Beyoncé herself. Knowles-Carter and her husband, Jay-Z, have been longtime supporters of figures on the Democratic ticket. In 2016, Bey performed at a rally for then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and in 2013 and 2009, she was called on by then-President Barack Obama to perform at his presidential inauguration and inauguration ball, respectively.

In its first few days, Harris’ presidential bid has been the topic of conversation across all corners of the internet, with Millennials and Gen Zers taking the opportunity to create fancams of the politician, using tracks by Beyoncé, Charli XCX and Taylor Swift as soundtracks. Over the weekend, Charli XCX posted “Kamala IS brat” to X; now, with Beyoncé’s added support, this could kick start a trend of popular musicians backing the Democratic candidate.