Michael Stipe, Jason Isbell Tell Doug Emhoff Why They Endorse Kamala Harris
When Michael Stipe and Jason Isbell played a Get Out the Vote concert Oct. 4 in Pittsburgh in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s presidential campaign, they took time out to visit with Harris’ husband and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Emhoff introduced the concert at Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza, which took place in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Backstage, in exclusive footage provided to Billboard by the Harris campaign, the two artists talked to Emhoff, a former entertainment attorney, about politics and their support of Harris.
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Stipe discussed the responsibility voters have to put in the work and to vote for the candidate that most closely aligns with their ideas, even if they don’t completely match. “There’s the comparison that has been made that voting for a politician is like taking a bus,” he said. “You get on the bus that takes you closest to where you want to go. When you get off that bus, that’s when you have to start working. You have to do the walking.”
Stipe, a lifelong activist, added, “We’re a big country with a lot of weight and a lot of power. And we need it to go right and your wife can guide it in the right direction. There’s a lot to work on, there’s a lot to do, but I have a lot of faith in her.” Stipe also praised Harris for her commitment to fighting injustice.
Isbell added that growing up in Alabama, he was around people who would say, “‘No politicians actually care about working people or about regular everyday Americans’, but as I have become more involved in politics myself, I have found that that’s just not true,” adding that he found Harris a “fantastic leader, brave and strong and hyper-intelligent and I think she truly cares about American people.”
He also lauded the “integrity that Kamala has that makes me feel safer as a creative person and as a citizen in general. I feel like somebody is at the top of the pyramid that is not attempting to confuse. Somebody is trying to tell me the truth and her opponent is trying to confuse us all.”
Emhoff was treated to a private performance of Stipe and Isbell practicing the latter’s “Traveling Alone,” which they also performed on stage together. They also played a pair of R.E.M. classics, “Driver 8” and “The One That I Love.” As the video shows, Emhoff also geeked out over receiving a lyric sheet signed by the pair.
Stipe and Isbell have been vocal in their support for the VP this year, with Isbell performing at the Democratic National Convention in August, as did Stevie Wonder, John Legend, The Chicks, Mickey Guyton and P!nk. Numerous musicians — including Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Cardi B — have all endorsed Harris for president in 2024.
Election day is Nov. 5.
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