Vice President Kamala Harris’s rapid response social media account, boasting over 1.3 million followers, has repeatedly been deceptive about former President Donald Trump’s campaign, detected by online fact-checkers and even CNN. A CNN analysis of several posts from @KamalaHQ’s account over the past month revealed instances of Harris’s team using “false or misleading” video editing and captioning to distort Trump’s statements and those of his allies. All the posts were flagged by an anonymous account, @KamalaHQLies, which aims to hold Harris’s team accountable for misinformation.
An August 17 post misconstrued Trump’s Pennsylvania rally remarks, making it seem like he didn't know his location: “Trump: Would that be okay, North Carolina? (He is in Pennsylvania),” read the caption. The same clip, shared on Instagram with the caption “Donald Trump is lost and confused,” was viewed over 4.3 million times and received tens of thousands of likes. However, the full rally video shows Trump was acknowledging North Carolina supporters, not confused about his location. Despite the misleading nature of the post, the Harris campaign declined to comment to CNN.
Another misleading edit from Kamala HQ emerged on Thursday, suggesting Trump was confused about his whereabouts during a Tucson rally: “Trump: ‘Pennsylvania, remember this when you have to go to vote’ (He is in Arizona),” the caption claimed. The Instagram version included, “Trump forgets which state he is in (again)” and labeled Trump as “declining rapidly.” Full video context revealed that Trump was discussing immigration by mentioning a Pennsylvania town affected by a migrant influx, fitting the Arizona audience’s concerns. Harris’s campaign again stayed silent when questioned by CNN about this post.
Kamala HQ’s deceptive practices continued with a post about Trump’s Charlottesville remarks from 2017. The post stated, “Trump says ‘nothing was done wrong’ in Charlottesville in 2017 when neo-Nazis chanted ‘Jews will not replace us’ and killed an innocent woman.” The full video context showed that Trump was actually defending his previous “very fine people, on both sides” comment, often misinterpreted as condoning white supremacists. Snopes and other fact-checkers have clarified that Trump did not call neo-Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people.” Harris's campaign defended their video editing, claiming Trump was denying any wrongdoing in his comments supporting those involved in the Charlottesville events.
Misleading quotes from Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, also surfaced on Kamala HQ. A recent nine-second clip cut Vance’s remark, implying he would consider privatizing veterans' health care. The full video showed Vance advocating for more veterans’ healthcare choices, not privatization. The Harris campaign argued their caption wasn't misleading, though it omitted important context. Additional posts by Kamala HQ over the last few weeks targeted Trump’s stance on Project 2025 and tax cuts, again using edited clips that misrepresented Trump's positions.
For instance, one post on September 5 truncated Trump’s speech on tax reforms, omitting his points on eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security benefits. CNN defended Trump’s remarks, adding that the Harris campaign selectively highlighted his stance to mislead viewers. The Harris campaign also mischaracterized a statement by Vance as anti-union, cutting off his clarifying comments. Such distortions continued with posts misrepresenting Human Events editor Jack Posobiec’s interview, inaccurately linking his comments to Project 2025. Collectively, Kamala HQ’s social media activity reveals a pattern of deceptively editing and captioning videos to misrepresent opponents’ statements, raising significant concerns about misinformation.
