Millennial Democrats outraged after Beyoncé fails to appear at convention

Party accused of spreading fake news after White House staffer’s bee emoji tweet backfires

The Democrats have been accused of spreading fake news after a White House staffer appeared to suggest that Beyoncé would be performing at the party’s convention.
Kamala Harris’s party suffered a backlash from viewers, some of whom had tuned in expecting a surprise appearance by the pop star, who performed at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2013.
While the convention was not short of celebrity appearances, with Oprah Winfrey endorsing Ms Harris on Wednesday in a last-minute addition to the line-up of speakers, no plans had been made to host the Single Ladies singer.
Emmy Ruiz, the White House political director, fanned the flames of speculation when she posted a bee emoji on X on Thursday afternoon.
The tweet came amid speculation that Beyoncé, whose millennial fans call themselves The Beyhive, would take to the stage at Chicago’s United Center.
The singer’s fans refer to her as Queen Bey and regularly use images of bees in tributes to her.
“Sorry guys, my six-year-old took my phone,” Ms Ruiz said in a follow-up tweet, which did little to end the flurry of speculation on social media.
“Taking this as Beyoncé at the DNC confirmation,” Tommy Vietor, a former Obama staffer who hosts a podcast with other Democratic aides, responded.
Beyoncé’s song Freedom is regularly used by the Harris campaign for rallies and political advertising.
It blared out on Thursday when Ms Harris walked on to the stage at the Democratic National Convention for her 45-minute speech.
Jamie Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic national committee, declined to rule out whether the singer would appear at the convention when asked earlier this week.
“Every day, she’s in here singing Freedom – at least we hear it across the intercom,” he said.
Donald Trump’s campaign had also used the song in a social media video, but was forced to delete it after Beyoncé threatened legal action this week.
Late on Thursday, the entertainment website TMZ reported that Beyoncé was in Chicago for the convention and was preparing to make an appearance in support of Ms Harris.
Organisers told CNN that they had not wanted a celebrity appearance to detract from the vice-president’s headline address on Thursday.