Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign and his supporters have tried to strike out at Vice President Kamala Harris‘ interviews and presentations throughout the presidential race, attempting to paint the Democratic nominee into a corner.
Trump has claimed that he is “better-looking” than Harris, an opinion that was mocked by the Harris campaign earlier this month, while Republicans have tried to accuse the vice president of changing her accent during public appearances.
Over the weekend, Harris was accused by Trump supporters of being “hammered” at a campaign event in Georgia. However, the content used to support the claim was dubious.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on September 20 in Atlanta, Georgia. Footage from the event was used to make baseless claims that Harris was “hammered.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Claim
A TikTok by influencer theredpillpatriot, posted on September 22, 2024, viewed 657,200 times, included a video of Kamala Harris with the caption “She is hammered. This is insane!”
User theredpillpatriot said in the TikTok: “You cannot tell me this woman is not hammered.”
“When this woman is sober she needs notes to get through an interview and nine times out of ten they’re scripted. This is who y’all want running this country?” they said, later adding, “She is absolutely sloshed.”
The Facts
Baseless posts on social media that falsely claim to have caught Harris under the influence have appeared frequently during the 2024 election campaign. Trump allies and campaign associates have been making the claim without evidence since August.
The TikTok by theredpillpatriot, who frequently posts pro-Trump content, is no different in its falsehood.
Not only was the TikTok presented without any evidence beyond the clip of Harris, the original footage was edited to make it appear that the vice president was slurring and speaking unusually slow.
The original footage was recorded at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 20, 2024. The unedited footage, hosted on the Kamala Harris YouTube channel, shows the vice president speaking at normal pitch and speed.
While it’s not clear who produced the original video, it began cropping up quickly over the weekend. On Monday, theredpillpatriot, responding to a user comment, admitted that the video was slowed down but continued to claim without evidence that Harris had a “problem.”
While theredpillpatriot said the video was slowed down, the original claim has been picked up and shared widely elsewhere on social media, including X, formerly Twitter.
Trump campaign insider James Blair began pushing the empty drinking rumor last month, prompting others, despite a lack of substantiation, to agree.
The Ruling
Misleading Material.
The video of Kamala Harris has been edited. It was recorded at a campaign event in Georgia, Atlanta, footage of which is still available on Harris’ YouTube channel. The TikTok influencer who shared the video later said it had been slowed down but continued to claim without evidence that the vice president had “a problem.”
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team
