Carole King on the 2024 Election: ‘Kamala Has Brought Joy Back into Politics’

Since Kamala Harris stepped up as the candidate to face off with Donald Trump in November, she’s sparked a wildly energetic response from the music world. Megan Thee Stallion, Quavo, Bon Iver, and Olivia Rodrigo have all performed at Harris rallies or offered their support, and they are far from alone. Rolling Stone spoke with several artists about why they’re supporting Harris’ candidacy, and why the stakes this November couldn’t be higher. 

Carole King has been politically active since she was 18 years old, canvassing for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. She performed her first political benefit 12 years later, playing alongside Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, and Quincy Jones at Warren Beatty’s Four for McGovern, a concert supporting George McGovern in the 1972 election. More than 50 years later, King is still fighting for our country. “I can’t even list all the strides we’ve made,” she says. “But we are watching them systematically be removed by Republican legislators.”

Even before Biden passed the torch to Kamala, we were aware of how important this election was. In fact, we were aware of it in 2020, which is why we voted for the old guy. You can quote that. He’s an old guy. I’m an old gal.

We’ve watched Republicans fall in line with an individual who became famous for firing people rather than inspiring them. They’ve become a cult of cruelty, and they use lies and hatred. They have a community based on fear and violence. The Republican elected use it in service of their own power, which they have told us through Project 2025 that they intend to keep indefinitely. 

So humanity and decency — and, hello, the planet — need every eligible person of goodwill to register and vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. Young people will have the representation to drive their future forward with love, pride, and confidence. Kamala has brought people out in ways and in numbers and in age groups that we didn’t even imagine. I would never have heard of Charli XCX, and I listened to her, and she’s good! Everyone’s excited. 

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Kamala has brought joy back into politics. But she brings something else that her opponent makes fun of because he never had one, which is a sense of humor. He makes fun of her for laughing. When have we ever heard him laugh? Never.

The biggest fear [if Trump wins] is that our democracy becomes a dictatorship and he becomes a king. How do you address a person who — I don’t want to use the word, because it’s beneath my dignity, but — makes shit up? OK, I used the word. You can say I said that reluctantly, because I’m an elder.

It is so frightening that an entire party — who maybe disagreed about how much government we should have or the level of taxes, and who told the truth and were decent human beings — not one of them is still in office. The decent Republicans have been marginalized and primaried out. 

I live in Idaho, and as most people know, my state has many people who vote differently than I do. And I’ve learned how to build a bridge. What I do is first I ask, “Why do you vote for the person you prefer?” And then I listen without judging. Obviously I have an opinion, but I listen. And if you can get somebody to believe that you are interested, it’s informative. And then I invite them to tell me, “What do you think we could agree on?” And then I listen again. That has led to some interesting conversations where we find common ground. That’s the bridge we can build.

I’ve been doing the work that I do for the environment because if we care about something, we have to take action to make it better. [Vice President Harris] makes me more hopeful. But I’ve had a forest for a neighbor for most of my adult life, and a forest ecosystem needs you to save more than just old growth trees. You need to save and protect and preserve the entire forest ecosystem. And the NREPA bill gives us an opportunity to do that. 

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I want people to know that this is happening now, and it’s institutional in the forest service under multiple presidents for decades. This is not a question of one president. We need to educate Kamala so that she changes the leadership and purpose of the forest service — to prioritize preservation over getting half the cut for timber companies. Timber companies have their own land, so we won’t lack wood. We just need to stop taking it from public land that we all own.

“One small voice can change the world.” I wrote [those lyrics] in 1982. It sounds really Eighties, so I’m embarrassed if people listen to it, but the song still holds up. It was just a general message, but now it’s so applicable to this election. That’s my message.