KIRA DAVIS: The Beyoncé Campaign.

The DNC is well known for their high profile celebrity guest roster. This year the heaviest hitters showed up to take the stage — the Obamas and Oprah Winfrey.

So, it was a bit surprising when rumors of a REALLY BIG guest to close out the convention began swirling. Who could be bigger than Oprah? TMZ appeared to be the main source of this massive “stunning-if-true” surprise. They claimed the surprise guest would be Beyoncé Knowles herself. The mainstream media, never a group to let themselves be distracted by actual journalism, spent the entire day chattering about the rumor and speculating about the impact of such an appearance. Not a single word had been uttered by the Beyoncé camp, the Harris/Walz campaign or any credible news source about her possible appearance but Beyoncé’s celebrity cloud of glitter and awe descended upon the United Center anyway, and its occupants were helpless to resist the gravity.

I felt it had to be Taylor Swift, even though that would be a blow to her fiancé’s fanbase and could possibly cause a negative media storm for his upcoming football season. I felt it could be Beyoncé — she’s certainly a big get — but she has performed at inaugurations and other political events in the past. It wouldn’t be a huge “surprise” to see her on that stage, although it would certainly be exciting for the audience.

As we all know by now, it turns out the big “surprise” was Kamala Harris.

No wonder the DNC-MSM felt the strong urge to goose the ratings: How Much of This Harris Speech Viewership was Fueled by Media Hyping DNC ‘Special Guest’ Rumors?

UPDATE: