A conspiracy theory doing the rounds on social media following yesterday’s Trump-Harris debate says that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was wearing hidden earphones disguised as pearl earrings throughout.
The conspiracy theory says that Harris was wearing a set of Nova H1 Audio Earrings, created by German startup NOVA Products, during the first presidential debate between the vice president and Donald Trump. It was hosted by ABC News at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on September 10.
The clip-on earrings, according to the startup’s Kickstarter page, “are placed on the earlobes and project the sound from inside the pearl straight into your ear canal.” It adds that “two tiny high-end microphones are integrated into each Earring providing the user with crystal clear phone calls and wind-noise cancellation.”
Debuted at CES [Consumer Electronics Show] in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January 2023, these Bluetooth wearables have ‘directional sound’ that allows for privacy; “any audio output is absolutely private; so you are the only one hearing your conversations and music,” says the product description on the Kickstarter page.
While video footage of the debate shows that Harris is wearing pearl earrings, several social-media users have pointed out their similarity to a pair of Double Pearl Hinged Earrings from Tiffany & Co. Newsweek reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.
Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, debates Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump [unseen], at The National Constitution Center on September 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Conspiracy theories circulating on social media say that the vice president was wearing minute earphones disguised as pearl earrings.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
This is not the first time conspiracy theories have circulated about hidden communications during presidential debates. Similar claims were made about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, specifically after a televised forum called the Commander-in-Chief Forum on September 7, 2016.
Some conservative websites and social-media users circulated images they said showed Clinton wearing an earpiece during this event. Fact-checking websites PolitiFact and Snopes examined and dismissed claims that a flesh-colored earpiece could be seen in Clinton’s ear.
There was also a claim circulating during the 2020 presidential election campaign that President Joe Biden wore a hidden earpiece during a debate. This emerged before the first presidential debate between Biden and Donald Trump on September 29, 2020. Some conservative media figures alleged that the Democrat used a hidden earpiece to receive answers or coaching during the debate.
However, there was no evidence to support this. Biden’s campaign strongly denied the claim, calling it “completely absurd.” The Commission on Presidential Debates also stated that neither candidate was permitted to wear an earpiece during the debate.
An online search for the Nova H1 Audi Earrings shows that they do not currently appear to be on sale anywhere, and NOVA Products’ website redirects to another company, Icebach Sound Solutions.
Additionally, backers on crowdfunding site Kickstarter have left messages from over a year ago asking for delivery status of their purchased H1 earrings that supposedly never materialized. NOVA Products’ last login to Kickstarter was in May 2023.
Newsweek reached out to Icebach Sound Solutions via email for comment.
