Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Harris Drew a Crowd in Detroit, But Detractors Spread Bogus Claim to the Contrary

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

Posts Mislead About Harris’ Romance with Willie Brown

Vice President Kamala Harris had a romantic relationship with powerful California politician Willie Brown in the 1990s. But claims on social media that she broke up his marriage misrepresent the facts. Brown had separated from his wife years before he and Harris had dated.

Social Media Posts Misrepresent Harris’ 2014 Remarks About Young People

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.

Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt

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

Night 3 of the Republican National Convention

Former President Donald Trump’s newly selected running mate, JD Vance, accepted the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination on the convention’s third night, which featured claims about the economy, immigration and foreign policy.

False Claim About Fake Secret Service Agent Contributes to Rally Conspiracy Theories

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.

Posts Misrepresent Ruling on COVID-19 School Mandate Lawsuit

Posts Misrepresent Ruling on COVID-19 School Mandate Lawsuit

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District for its now-rescinded COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The court said the case should be allowed to develop beyond the preliminary arguments. But anti-vaccination activists have twisted the opinion to falsely claim the court had “declared that the mRNA covid jab is NOT a vaccine.”

Gaza Tunnel Photo Mislabeled on Social Media

Gaza Tunnel Photo Mislabeled on Social Media

A photo taken in January shows a large tunnel under Gaza’s northern border with Israel, reportedly used in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. But recent social media posts falsely claim that the photo shows a tunnel connecting Egypt with the southern Gaza city of Rafah — where Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war have been sheltering.