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Social media speculation runs wild after Beyonce rumored to be DNC mystery guest

White House political director’s cryptic bee emoji tweet spurs on speculation of surprise performance as Harris set to accept presidential nomination

Gustaf Kilander
Washington DC
Thursday 22 August 2024 18:39 EDT
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Related video: Kamala Harris releases first campaign ad with a little help from Beyoncé

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Social media speculation is swirling that Beyonce will perform at the Democratic National Convention for Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech.

White House Political Director Emmy Ruiz posted a bee emoji on X, which many social media users took as a reference to the Beyhive and an indication that Beyonce is set to perform on Thursday night.

“Sorry guys my 6-year-old took my phone,” Ruiz added, which didn’t stem the flow of hopeful posts that the artist would appear.

“The White House director of political strategy and outreach has tweeted a emoji. The Beyonce DNC buzz is really buzzing now,” Joey Garrison of USA Today wrote on X.

“Taking this as Beyonce at the DNC confirmation,” former Obama staffer and podcaster Tommy Vietor added.

City officials and Democratic party organizers have been preparing for a surprise performance, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

Beyonce accepts the Innovator Award onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 01, 2024. Rumors are swirling that she’s set to appear at the DNC on Thursday night
Beyonce accepts the Innovator Award onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 01, 2024. Rumors are swirling that she’s set to appear at the DNC on Thursday night (Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Two sources told the magazine that local law enforcement has been prepping for a possible Beyonce visit to the Windy City, with one person saying that “it’s been crazy.”

“People running the show and working here obviously will prepare for Beyoncépalooza… We just keep being told ‘I don’t know’ when this comes up,” the individual said. “It has come up frequently.”

While no one has spotted Beyonce in Chicago, two people told the magazine that they heard a marching band checking the sound for Beyonce’s song Cuff It on Thursday.

The artist’s song Freedom has been used as the theme song of the Harris campaign, with the vice president walking out on stage at the DNC on Monday to the song.

“Live update from the @DemConvention: The band is practicing @Beyonce songs,” Fentrice Driskell, the minority leader of the Florida House of Representatives, wrote on X on Thursday afternoon.

Writer and educator Sari Beth Rosenberg shared a video of a band practicing on stage, saying “It’s definitely going to be @Beyonce right?”

Beyonce’s team is reported to have given the green light to the Harris campaign to use Freedom only hours before the campaign was launched last month.

The artist backed President Joe Biden and Harris a day before the 2020 election, she also spoke at a rally for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and fundraised for Barack Obama during his re-election campaign in 2012, Rolling Stone noted.

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