Falsehoods about Kamala Harris' citizenship status, racial identity resurface online as she becomes likely Democratic nominee

Not long after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, false claims targeting her began resurfacing on social media.

Many of the falsehoods have followed her for years and focus on her citizenship status, racial identity and political achievements. Here are some of the claims.

False claims that Harris' foreign-born parents make her ineligible to run

Shortly after the president's endorsement, a false narrative claiming the fact Harris' parents were not born in the U.S. makes her ineligible to hold office recirculated on social media. Posts pushing the claims received millions of views. 

Harris was born in Oakland, California, to Jamaican and Indian immigrants. The fact that her parents are immigrants does not disqualify her from serving as vice president or president.

False claims about Harris' citizenship were a flashpoint last time she was on the ticket. Some have used an op-ed, written by pro-Trump lawyer John Eastman and published in Newsweek in 2020, to promote the argument that the Constitution does not grant citizenship to children of people born outside of the United States. An editor's note later appended to the opinion states: "All of us at Newsweek are horrified that this op-ed gave rise to a wave of vile Birtherism directed at Senator Harris." 

Critics baselessly doubt Harris' race

Another thread once again being promoted on social media is the false narrative that Harris is lying about being Black. 

Social media users falsely claimed that a photo of Harris standing between a man and a woman, said to be her parents, is "proof" that her father isn't Black. The photo, which spread in 2020, is not of Harris' parents. 

Some have also claimed that because her father is from Jamaica, Harris is not Black. The vast majority of Jamaica's population has African heritage since the British brought enslaved Africans to the island in the 18th century. 

When asked on a radio show in 2019 about the false claims about her race, Harris said that these are people trying to "sow hate and division among us." 

"I'm Black, and I'm proud of being Black," she said. "I was born Black. I will die Black, and I'm not going to make excuses for anybody because they don't understand."

Harris' father previously said he is a descendent of an Irish-born slave owner. Experts interviewed by PolitiFact said that she is most likely a descendent of both enslaved people and a slave owner. 

Manipulated audio and visuals clips of Harris spread online

Social media users have also posted out-of-context or manipulated videos and audio clips that attempt to paint Harris as addled or rambling. 

A video of Harris, which was digitally altered to make it appear that she had rambled incoherently in a 2023 speech at Howard University, took on a new life on Sunday when audio from the clip racked up millions of views on TikTok. 

"Today is today and yesterday was today yesterday," the voice in the clip says. "Tomorrow will be today tomorrow, so live today so the future today will be as the past today as it is tomorrow." 

The video and audio were digitally altered and there is no evidence she said this. TikTok said it is removing the audio clip because it violates the platform's policies. 

In another instance of edited media, a photo superimposing Jeffrey Epstein's face on Harris' husband's was used to falsely claim Harris was associated with the convicted sex offender. 

Another video of Harris circulating wasn't edited, but was taken out of context. In it, Harris says, "I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her. I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit." Harris was describing her appearance for the benefit of some members of the meeting who were blind. Elon Musk posted the video on his platform X, captioned "imagine 4 years of this." The post got over 135 million views.

Nina Jankowicz, disinformation researcher and founder of the American Sunlight Project, advised users to pause when seeing outrageous narratives about Harris on social media. 

"If you feel yourself getting emotional and in this case, it might be shock or disgust, that's a good indication that you're probably being manipulated," Jankowicz said. "It's just a fact that the more emotional, salacious, enraging narratives on social media are often the most engaging narratives and the people who are spreading them know that."

In:
• Misinformation
• Social Media
• Kamala Harris

Julia Ingram

Julia Ingram is a data journalist for CBS News Confirmed. She uses data analysis and computation to cover misinformation, AI and social media.

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