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Kamala Harris pins hope on Oprah moment

Is Oprah Winfrey the secret recipe Kamala Harris needs to win?

Harris’ campaign certainly hopes so, and campaign advisers said there were “surprises” in store during a livestreamed interview with the iconic talk show host Wednesday night.

A few hundred studio guests will watch live from the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Farmington Hills. Several hundred thousand more are expected to tune in on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitch. The event is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

The event, co-hosted by Win With Black Women, comes as Harris and Donald Trump find themselves at a standstill in a tight, high-stakes race that could go either way as both candidates target every possible demographic.

The campaign has sky-high expectations for the livestream, suggesting its impact could rival that of Oprah’s talk show. Harris’ team is positioning it as part of her diverse media engagement strategy, even as she faces criticism for dodging reporters.

It’s unclear how much influence celebrities actually have on election results. But if there’s one name that can move voters, it might be Oprah. She cast a million votes for Barack Obama in 2008 after endorsing the first black president. Harris’ campaign hopes history will repeat itself.

“From #WinWithBlackWomen to #CatLadies and #ComicsforKamala and everyone in between, people from across the country will join Oprah and Vice President Harris for a candid conversation about some of the biggest issues facing American families,” an event announcement said.

Sixteen years later, in a more fragmented media environment, it’s unclear how much an Oprah appearance means for votes. The mononymous billionaire megastar has largely shunned politics for the past decade and a half.

Now she’s back in the game to deliver Harris a win. Oprah endorsed Harris in August and spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month.