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Jay Z, Beyonce Help Clinton Make a Pitch to Young, African-American Voters in Cleveland

Ideastream Public Media | By M.L. Schultze,

M.L. Schultze

Published November 5, 2016 at 3:06 AM EDT

The Jay Z/Beyonce concert was the first of two mega get-out-the-vote events for Clinton in Cleveland. Donald Trump says Clinton needs celebrities to draw the size crowds he gets every day.

Last night’s free concert in Cleveland by Jay Z and Beyonce drew more than 10,000 of the kind of voters Hillary Clinton needs to turn out for Tuesday’s election: young and African-American.

It felt like a concert first and campaign rally second, though huge screens, brief speeches and even Beyonce’s tongue-in-cheek pantsuit were steady reminders to vote for Clinton.

_{It wasn’t until the last five minutes that the candidate herself appeared, introduced by Jay Z, who also dismissed Donald Trump as president.}

_{“I don’t have any ill will toward him, but his conversation is divisive and that’s not an involved soul to me, so he can not be my president. He cannot be our president."}

_{Clinton spoke briefly about extending the enthusiasm beyond Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center.}

_{“When I see them here, this passion and energy and intensity, I don’t even know where to begin because this is what America is, my friends.”}

_{Billy Sharp, who is working for the Clinton campaign on Cleveland’s east side, says the concert was an important get-out-the-vote effort, but today comes the as-important grass roots follow-up.}

Clinton spoke of unity, glass ceilings and Beyonce's pantsuit during the 5 minutes she was on stage.

_{“We’re actually taking a bus of people who have not voted yet, they’ll go down to the polls with me and vote at the Board of Elections, we’re doing canvassing and we’re doing phone-banking."}

_{But a second mega-event is coming Sunday, when Clinton returns to Cleveland for a rally at Public Auditorium with NBA superstar LeBron James.}