CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale has taken aim at Vice President Kamala Harris’s official rapid response account, @KamalaHQ, in a comprehensive eight-part critique, accusing it of repeatedly misrepresenting video clips and captions to attack former President Donald Trump. The headline from CNN highlighted the issue: “Fact check: Harris campaign social media account has repeatedly deceived with misleading edits and captions.” Dale’s investigation found that the @KamalaHQ account, which boasts over 1.3 million followers, has consistently pushed misleading content targeting Trump, stirring controversy online.
Trump: Would that be okay, North Carolina?
(He is in Pennsylvania) pic.twitter.com/TcymR609Rg
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 17, 2024
Dale’s fact-check delved into eight specific examples where the Harris campaign’s account either deceptively edited videos or provided inaccurate captions. One of the most striking cases involved a Pennsylvania rally where Trump was shown seemingly forgetting where he was. However, the full video revealed that Trump was intentionally referring to a small group of North Carolina attendees at the rally, a fact conveniently omitted by the @KamalaHQ post. This pattern repeated when the account again claimed Trump had forgotten the location of his speech during an Arizona rally, when, in reality, he was discussing the migrant crisis impacting Pennsylvania.
Trump: “Pennsylvania, remember this when you have to go to vote”
(He is in Arizona) pic.twitter.com/lMEJwwvQ3I
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 12, 2024
Another major point of contention involved Trump’s infamous “Charlottesville” comments from 2017. The @KamalaHQ account posted a clip suggesting Trump said “nothing was done wrong” in relation to the violent protests, when in fact, the full context showed Trump was defending his “fine people on both sides” remark, which he clarified did not include neo-Nazis or the counterprotesters responsible for Heather Heyer’s death. Despite Trump’s repeated clarifications, both in the media and in subsequent interviews, @KamalaHQ continued to push the misleading narrative.
Trump says “nothing was done wrong” in Charlottesville in 2017 when neo-Nazis chanted “Jews will not replace us” and killed an innocent woman pic.twitter.com/rQEuzPp3KP
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 13, 2024
Dale’s fact-check also scrutinized an edited clip of Senator JD Vance, who was asked about privatizing veterans’ health care. The account posted a snippet suggesting Vance was in favor of full privatization, but omitted the crucial context where Vance discussed expanding health care options for veterans, particularly in rural areas, without suggesting a complete dismantling of the VA system. The Harris campaign’s response, claiming they never implied full privatization, didn’t align with the cut-off video that framed the issue much more narrowly.
Q: Would you consider privatizing veterans health care?
Vance: I think I’d consider it pic.twitter.com/wmjJq59vNJ
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 12, 2024
The report concluded with four additional examples where the @KamalaHQ account used selective editing or misleading captions to attack Trump. In each case, Dale pointed out that critical context was either removed or manipulated to create a false impression of what Trump or his allies had said.
Dale’s thorough breakdown of the @KamalaHQ account raises serious questions about the integrity of Harris’s campaign messaging, particularly in an age when social media plays such a crucial role in shaping political narratives. The fact that the account has repeatedly engaged in deceptive editing to skew public perception of Trump could damage its credibility moving forward, especially as fact-checking becomes an increasingly vital tool in countering misinformation.
