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Viral Claim That Harris Used Audio Earrings During Debate Lacks Evidence

Published

3 months ago

September 13, 2024

Viral Claim That Harris Used Audio Earrings During Debate Lacks Evidence

Topline

Far-right figures on social media unfold baseless claims suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris used audio earrings to realize an higher hand in her debate in opposition to former President Donald Trump, although the unbacked claims don’t contemplate the variations between the earrings worn by Harris on debate evening and the audio earrings she has been accused of sporting.

Harris listens to Trump throughout Tuesday’s debate. (Photograph by SAUL LOEB/AFP through Getty Photographs)

AFP through Getty Photographs

Key Details

Far-right media character Laura Loomer was one of many customers pushing the viral declare, posting on X, previously referred to as Twitter, after the controversy a side-by-side picture of Harris and a screenshot of a Tom’s Information article concerning the Nova H1 Audio Earrings, which characteristic wi-fi earphones embedded in freshwater pearl earrings, based on their builders’ web site—the submit had been considered almost 4 million instances as of Wednesday night.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller retweeted an article wherein Icebach Sound Options, the builders of the audio earrings, mentioned the resemblance between their audio earrings and Harris’ earrings “is hanging,” accompanying the repost with the eyes emoji, which can be utilized to precise intrigue or skepticism, whereas a number of different outstanding accounts additionally unfold unfounded claims concerning the earrings.

Harris seemed to be sporting Tiffany & Co.’s South Sea Pearl Earrings, which every characteristic a pearl positioned atop and barely between two gold rods, based mostly on images from a weblog referred to as What Kamala Wore, which notes the earrings will not be accessible on-line.

The Nova H1 Audio Earrings would not have double rods, as an alternative that includes a singular clip design for customers’ ear lobes.

Malte Iversen, managing director at Icebach Sound Options, advised Forbes the corporate had no data about what earrings Harris wore in the course of the debate.

The Harris marketing campaign declined to remark and representatives for Tiffany and ABC Information didn’t instantly reply to Forbes’ inquiry.

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Shocking Reality

Harris could possibly be seen sporting the identical earrings throughout a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Wednesday morning and seems to have worn them on different events, together with at a rally in Wayne, Michigan, final month and an NCAA championship groups celebration in July.

Information Peg

Trump throughout an interview with Fox Information accused Harris of gaining access to the controversy questions forward of time, saying ABC Information, the community that hosted the controversy, had a “rigged present with anyone that possibly even had the solutions.” He offered no proof to again up the declare and the controversy guidelines specified that “No matters or questions will likely be shared prematurely with campaigns or candidates.”

Tangent

Election betting odds largely swayed in favor of Harris following the controversy, with bookmakers predicting the vice chairman has a 51.8% likelihood of profitable the election over Trump (46.9%), based on the Election Betting Odds tracker. Trump held a lead in betting odds heading into the controversy.

Key Background

The talk between Trump and Harris was seen as one of the crucial consequential days of the election cycle, as polling confirmed the candidates entered the controversy in a decent race. Harris skilled a surge in polling momentum in current weeks that plateaued earlier than the controversy, leading to a one-point lead over Trump (49% to 48%) heading into the controversy, based on an NPR/PBS Information/Marist survey. Pundits after the controversy largely both praised the vice chairman’s efficiency or critiqued Trump’s for permitting Harris to bait him into off-topic tangents, based on The New York Occasions. Trump mentioned in an interview with “Fox & Pals” the controversy “was three on one,” a criticism possible referring to the real-time fact-checks he skilled in the course of the occasion. The previous president additionally characterised ABC as “essentially the most dishonest information group,” echoing criticisms of ABC he lobbed heading into the occasion. One of the vital eye-catching reality checks in opposition to Trump was delivered after he pushed a false viral declare that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are consuming residents’ cats and canines. Debate moderator David Muir cited Springfield officers who advised ABC Information they obtained no credible stories of immigrants consuming pets within the space, to which Trump claimed he noticed “individuals on tv” who mentioned their pet was used for meals.