Viral Posts Make Baseless Claim About Harris’ Earrings at the Debate

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Fast Take

Social media posts baselessly claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris wore earrings geared up with audio gadgets with a purpose to cheat throughout her debate with former President Donald Trump. Comparable unfounded claims circulated earlier than or after debates in 2016 and 2020 with Trump’s previous political opponents.

Full Story

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump clashed of their first presidential debate on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. Earlier than the controversy, the candidates agreed to a algorithm, together with no prewritten notes or props and no interplay with their workers members in the course of the two industrial breaks.

However viral posts on social media baselessly claimed that Harris cheated by carrying earrings that contained earphones and prompt that her remarks and responses have been fed to her in the course of the debate.

A Sept. 10 Instagram put up, which acquired greater than 39,000 likes, stated, “The earphone earring that Kamala was apparently carrying was created in early 2023.” The put up reveals a picture of an article touting “Nova H1 audio earrings.”

One other Instagram put up reads: “BUSTED! SHE’S WEARING EARPHONE EARRINGS.” The put up reveals pictures of Harris’ pearl earring and the same however not an identical earring recognized in an advert as a Nova H1 audio earring.

The posts are echoes of unfounded claims made about Trump’s earlier political adversaries earlier than or after debates.

In September 2016, after the primary debate between Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the web site Charisma Information falsely claimed that closeup pictures of Clinton’s ear confirmed she was carrying an earpiece or listening to support. PolitiFact examined pictures of her ear on the evening of the controversy that didn’t present any listening to system, and a Clinton spokesperson advised PolitiFact she “was not carrying an earpiece.”

In September 2020, the Trump marketing campaign claimed that former Vice President Joe Biden had refused to conform to a pre-debate inspection for digital earpieces, as we wrote then. Biden’s deputy marketing campaign supervisor, Kate Bedingfield, reportedly known as the declare “absurd” and said, “In fact, he’s not carrying an earpiece.”

After the controversy on Sept. 29, 2020, social media posts made baseless claims that photos of Biden confirmed he was “carrying a wire” to an earpiece. As we wrote, higher-quality video of the controversy confirmed that what had been described as a “wire” on the posts was only a crease in Biden’s shirt.

The New York Occasions wrote in 2020 about what it known as “The Lengthy Historical past of ‘Hidden Earpiece’ Conspiracy Theories.” The report described unfounded claims that are inclined to recur each election cycle about hidden digital gadgets utilized by presidential candidates, relationship to 2000 when conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh stated Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore used an earpiece to obtain teaching on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in 2000.

The Harris marketing campaign declined to touch upon the declare that the vice chairman wore earrings geared up with an audio system on the Sept. 10 debate.

Some social media customers have responded to the unfounded claims about Harris’ earrings. Locally notes to a Sept. 10 put up on X, a reader wrote, “Rumors are unfounded, Harris wore earrings by Tiffany & Co. that she has worn many instances earlier than,” not Nova H1 Audio Earrings.

As well as, the web site “What Kamala Wore,” which covers Harris’ “trend and magnificence decisions,” stated on Sept. 11 that the vice chairman wore “her South Sea Pearl Earrings from the Tiffany Hardwear assortment” on the debate. The article reveals pictures of the earrings Harris wore on the debate, which have an open setting under the pearls, versus the design of the Nova H1 audio earrings as proven on the web site of the corporate that makes the product.

Editor’s observe: FactCheck.org is certainly one of a number of organizations working with Fb to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our earlier tales might be discovered right here. Fb has no management over our editorial content material.

Sources

Fichera, Angelo. “No Proof Biden Was ‘Sporting a Wire’ in Debate.” FactCheck.org. 30 Sep 2020.

Fichera, Angelo, and Saranac Hale Spencer. “Baseless On-line Claims Goal Biden Forward of First Debate.” FactCheck.org. Up to date 1 Oct 2020.

Hauari, Gabe. “Guidelines for tonight’s presidential debate on ABC: What to learn about mics, viewers, extra.” 10 Sep 2024.

Jacobson, Louis. “Claims that Hillary Clinton wore earpiece at debate don’t maintain up.” PolitiFact. 28 Sep 2016.

Kelley, Susan. “Vice President Harris in Acquainted Types for Debate.” What Kamala Wore. 11 Sep 2024.

Kiely, Eugene, et al. “FactChecking the Harris-Trump Debate.” FactCheck.org. 11 Sep 2024.

Hyperlink, Devon. “Truth examine: Allegations that Joe Biden wore an earpiece at city corridor, debate are false.” USA Immediately. Up to date 30 Sep 2020.

Rivera, Madeleine (@madeleinerivera). “Biden Deputy Campaign Manager @KBeds responded to this during a debate preview call today: ‘It is completely absurd. Of course, he is not wearing an earpiece, and we never asked for breaks.’” Twitter. 29 Sep 2020.

Roose, Kevin. “The Lengthy Historical past of ‘Hidden Earpiece’ Conspiracy Theories.” New York Occasions. 29 Sep 2020.