Meena Harris "went to work" on Broadway and accidentally ended up attending what's been dubbed as her famous aunt's "first rally."
At a Sunday matinee performance of Suffs, a Tony Award-winning musical about the women's suffrage movement, the crowd broke into a chant of "Kamala! Kamala!" after President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down in his bid for reelection to the White House.
Biden announced on Sunday that he was dropping out of the race after weeks of pressure from within his party over concerns for his health and ability to fulfill the role of president. The calls for him to step down came after his shaky performance against former President Donald Trump in the first presidential debate in June.
The president said he would focus the rest of his term on leading the country and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Later, she said in a statement that she intended to run for the nomination.
Author and lawyer Meena Harris is a co-producer and partner in Suffs through her nonprofit, Phenomenal Theater Fund, and was on hand to see the impromptu cheering for her aunt.
"Went to work, ended up at the first Kamala rally," she captioned the social media post, which she shot from the stage wings.
The video showed the actors pausing on stage as the crowd chanted the vice president's name. It also included a screenshot of a New York Times article describing the moment.
"At the start of a 3 p.m. performance of 'Suffs,' a Broadway musical about the women's suffrage movement, the audience began to chant 'Kamala! Kamala!' The chant lasted for about a minute, said Alex Heckler, a Democratic delegate from Florida who attended the performance. Hillary Clinton, who on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, is a producer of the show," the article by Tim Balk said.
Newsweek reached out to Meena Harris through the Phenomenal Theater Fund via email for comment.
Commenters on the video shared their first-hand experiences of being in the audience when the chanting broke out.
"Was there. It was iconic," wrote @emlurr.
"Was there. It was electric. INCREDIBLE!!!!!" replied @tylerdhumphrey.
And @mamabythebaysf posted: "I was there, and it was absolutely electric!!! So powerful and filled me with hope! Meena has long been a vocal supporter of her aunt and outspoken on her political views."
Meena Harris has campaigned for the vice president throughout her political career, notably when she was running for president in 2020. In 2016, she worked as a senior advisor on policy and communications for her aunt's Senate campaign.
Her mom, Maya Harris, the vice president's younger sister, also worked in politics as an adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run.
Meena Harris is also the CEO of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, under which her theater nonprofit operates and which "brings awareness to social and cultural causes," according to its website.
She has written four children's books, Ambitious Girl, A is for Ambitious, The Truth About Mrs. Claus, and Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, inspired by her mother and aunt.
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