The highly anticipated debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris was a combative event in which facts were repeatedly trampled and distorted.
Stories by Saranac Hale Spencer
Online Posts Misrepresent Biden’s Proposed Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains
Third Night of the Democratic Convention
Harris Drew a Crowd in Detroit, But Detractors Spread Bogus Claim to the Contrary
Vice President Kamala Harris drew a large crowd at a campaign rally near Detroit, according to photos, videos and press reports. But posts circulating online make the baseless claim — amplified by former President Donald Trump — that an image of the event was fabricated or manipulated by artificial intelligence to inflate the crowd size.
Posts Mislead About Harris’ Romance with Willie Brown
Social Media Posts Misrepresent Harris’ 2014 Remarks About Young People
When Vice President Kamala Harris was the attorney general of California in 2014, she announced a program to help young people transitioning out of the criminal justice system. She glibly referred to the 18-24 age group as “stupid,” saying people that age “make really bad decisions.” But social media posts have taken her words out of context.
Final Night of the GOP Convention
Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt
Viral online posts make the unfounded claim that a woman at former President Donald Trump’s July 13 rally acted “suspicious,” suggesting that she might have been involved in a plot to assassinate Trump, and that a QAnon-related character may have also been involved. The FBI has said that the “investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone.”
Night 3 of the Republican National Convention
False Claim About Fake Secret Service Agent Contributes to Rally Conspiracy Theories
Posts from the anonymous online forum 4Chan have been spreading the false claim that Secret Service officials prevented an agent named “Jonathan Willis” from shooting former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassin. The Secret Service has no employee by that name, and the claim is “categorically false,” the agency said.