New vote, same stories: Old falsehoods hit U.S. presidential election campaign

The 2024 U.S. presidential election is not just a race between candidates — it's a battlefield of competing narratives. 

Whether it's baseless claims about Kamala Harris' citizenship, false narratives about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's military service, manipulated content portraying Donald Trump's cognitive abilities, or rumors about JD Vance's personal life, these attacks share a common theme: they are recurrent claims that are debunked repeatedly.

Many of these narratives hark back to the candidates' political or personal pasts. Harris, Trump, and Walz have all previously held office, making their public personas ripe for manipulation. Meanwhile, for relative newcomers like Vance, misinformation is fresh even when it references past events. 

These narratives recycle, reshape, and repurpose old falsehoods like weeds rooted in public discourse. By examining them, we can better understand their challenges to maintaining an informed and engaged electorate.

Personal conduct and identity 

Allegations of unethical behavior, criminal activity, or moral failings are common traits in election-related misinformation. These claims emphasize dishonesty, incompetence, or lack of integrity and raise questions about candidates' legitimacy, drawing from a playbook familiar to past election cycles. 

For example, the false narrative that Harris is ineligible to serve as president due to her parents' immigration status is eerily similar to the "birther" conspiracy aimed at Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. 

Examples of such claims include attempts to cast doubt on her citizenship (see here, here, and here) or queries over her racial identity. For example, Donald Trump has accused Harris of "changing" her identity despite her long history of referring to herself as both Black and South Asian American. Users on social media have also shared photos of her with people of Indian heritage, falsely claiming they show her parents.

A screenshot of a tweet claiming Kamala Harris is ineligible to hold the office of president. (Source: X/screenshot)

Walz, on the other hand, has faced accusations of "stolen valor," a damaging attack frequently leveled at military veterans in politics, such as Democrat John Kerry during his 2004 presidential run. 

More specifically, Walz has been accused of lying about his military service (here) and abandoning his unit by avoiding a deployment to Iraq (see here, here, and here). Although these accusations are questionable, as Walz retired before his battalion received any deployment notice, Vance has largely pushed them. Logically Facts did a deeper delve into the topic, which is here.

On the opposing side of the political spectrum, Trump has faced exaggerated and sometimes fabricated allegations regarding his legal battles, which have resurfaced repeatedly since he has been under legal scrutiny. Users on social media (see here, here, and here) falsely argued that the jurors in Donald Trump's trial didn't have to reach a unanimous agreement to convict him. 

Vance has also been the target of personal attacks. A claim that lacks evidence that he has been divorced twice aims to weaken his conservative persona by casting doubt on his loyalty to traditional family values.

Meanwhile, false claims (see here and here) about him opposing divorce in violent marriages twist his statements to appear more radical. While he has expressed concern about the impact of divorce on children, he never opposed it outright. 

Social media users have even gone so far as to claim that his dog is rented to create a family-friendly image for his campaign. Similar accusations have been directed at Walz; however, both claims are untrue. Although seemingly trivial, such claims can cause real harm at the polls, especially for less-known figures like Walz, as many voters are still forming their perception of him. 

Competency and ridicule 

Manipulated footage and memes have become powerful tools in the arsenal of misinformation. Both Harris and Trump have been targeted by doctored or misattributed footage designed to portray them as incompetent or out of touch. 

In Trump's case, edited clips have shown him supposedly freezing at rallies (see here, here, and here), appearing confused about his location (see here, here, and here), or messing up names (see here). The posts often suggest that his behavior indicates mental deterioration, frequently linking it to his age — a pattern of accusations that also targeted current President Joe Biden during both the 2020 and 2024 elections before he dropped out of the race. 

Although Harris is less advanced in years, she's experienced the same tactic, with videos and misattributed quotes supposedly showing her stumbling over her words or making illogical statements. Some have claimed that she is either intoxicated (see here and here) or irrational (here) and thus unfit to lead the U.S. These attacks leverage fleeting moments to question the candidates' fitness for office, playing into fears about their competence.

The vice-presidential candidates have encountered a different strategy used to trivialize their campaigns: ridicule. Vance has been targeted by absurd claims stemming from satire, such as accusations that he had sexual intercourse with a couch and wrote about it in his memoir (see here, here, here, and here). What began as a joke quickly spiraled into viral falsehoods, flooding social media with memes and accusations that tarnished his image. 

Meanwhile, Walz has been falsely accused of writing an opinion piece about "naked male bonding" for The Guardian (see here and here). He has also been linked to a false news article about needing to get his stomach pumped after ingesting horse semen (see here). Adding to the mockery, several videos (see here and here) of misattributed footage have circulated, showing different men dancing in revealing clothes, with claims that it is Walz. By tapping into humor, these attacks spread rapidly across social media outside of their original context, blurring the line between satire and slander.

A fabricated screenshot of an article by The Guardian where Tim Walz supposedly writes about male bonding. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Political past and alliances

In addition to personal attacks, misinformation has been spread about the candidates' political pasts and alliances. 

Harris has faced accusations that she is a communist sympathizer, backed up by a fabricated photo of a communist ID card made with an AI tool. This narrative, which taps into fears of socialism and government overreach in the U.S., has been revived by Elon Musk, known for being vocal about what he sees as excessive regulations, as he shared an AI-generated image depicting Kamala as a "communist dictator." 

Similarly, Walz has been long linked to communism by critics who suggest his decades-long connections to China make him untrustworthy, going as far as fabricating a memo of his "communist agenda" and accusing him of being a double agent working for the Chinese government (see claims here, here, here, and here). Social media users have also shared edited photos of Harris and Walz posing in front of a communist poster (see here, here, here, and here).

While Vance has actually been pictured wearing a communist T-shirt (albeit as a Halloween outfit), these narratives mainly target candidates from the Democratic party because they advocate for progressive policies that opponents label as socialist, such as universal healthcare and climate action. A similar tactic was used during the 2020 elections, and according to experts: "The "S" word is a charge Republicans have leveled against Democrats for decades."

Trump has not been spared either. Distorted comments from a 2020 press briefing alleging that he advised Americans to inject bleach to combat COVID-19 have recirculated (see here, here, and here). 

Meanwhile, Walz, who served as a governor during the pandemic, has faced false accusations of involvement in COVID-19 fraud (see here and here) despite Minnesota's relatively low death rates and no specific wrongdoing tied to his administration. 

Critics have also targeted Walz's handling of the George Floyd protests (see here, here, here, and here). An analysis by Logically Facts gives further insight into these claims. Facing scrutiny over past statements and decisions is usually a prevalent theme in election cycles, as voters assess whether candidates have lived up to their responsibilities or made choices that now appear controversial or inconsistent with their current positions, such as the controversial 1994 crime bill, sponsored by Joe Biden, which came into focus during the 2020 elections. 

Vance's alignment with Trump exemplifies the acquisitive shifts in political stances often exploited in election misinformation. Once a vocal Trump critic, Vance previously compared him to Hitler, claiming he is "reprehensible." He has since become a prominent Trump supporter, leading to accusations (see here and here) of political opportunism. 

Moreover, Vance has come under fire for his opposition to trans rights, especially after old college photos of him in drag resurfaced. These photos, although real, are used to highlight perceived contradictions between his past actions and current conservative stance. 

Misrepresentations around rallies and campaign events

Falsehoods and deceptive statements surrounding political rallies and campaign events have been a hallmark of election-related misinformation in the U.S. in recent years, and 2024 is no exception. 

The Harris-Walz campaign has been accused of faking crowd sizes at rallies, with one widely shared post featuring an AI-generated image that exaggerated turnout at a Harris rally in Arizona. Although the image was falsely attributed to Harris' official campaign, it was shared by a parody account. Nevertheless, this narrative gained traction, fueled further by political opponents like Trump, who shared an AI-generated image claiming, "Look, we caught her with a fake 'crowd.' There was no one there!"

A screenshot of a tweet of an AI-generated crowd at one of Harris' rallies. (Source: X/Screenshot)

Social media users have also claimed Harris hires paid actors to show her support, referencing a fake Craigslist ad (see here, here, here, and here). A viral fake CNN headline has even suggested she uses Costco vouchers to buy voters. These allegations create a narrative of a candidate struggling to draw genuine support.

Conversely, misattributed photos have been circulated exaggerating the size of Trump's rally crowds (see here and here). Images from unrelated events, such as concerts, have been circulated to prove his supposed massive turnout. This manipulation of crowd size exemplifies how misinformation campaigns exploit visual media to influence the perception of the popularity of the events.

AI-generated, deepfake, and misattributed content

As technology advances, so do the methods used in misinformation campaigns, such as deepfakes, AI-generated images, and doctored videos — even if the claims being promoted are recurrent. 

Although experts argue that the role of deepfakes is often overstated, its impact in the U.S. electoral context cannot be ignored. Compared to other nations, the country's vast scale and polarization have created a fertile ground for AI-driven disinformation to thrive.

A particularly damaging claim against Harris alleged that she engaged in sex work. AI-generated images bolstered this rumor (see here, here, and here) and misattributed photos (see here). The visuals depict Harris in revealing clothing, falsely associating her with illicit activities. 

Such attacks play into longstanding gendered stereotypes that have been used against women in politics, similar to the way figures like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were subjected to sexist scrutiny. This smear campaign, though entirely fabricated, indirectly connects to Harris' stance on decriminalizing sex work. 

Another common tactic against Trump is depicting him as boastful and egotistical, drawing on his public persona in roles such as in The Apprentice. Fabricated screenshots often show him praising himself or flaunting his connections, attempting to portray him as excessively self-centered and out of touch with reality. Some examples of this include a fake tweet of him comparing himself to Martin Luther King Jr., another fake tweet of him boasting about playing football with OJ Simpson, and a fake screenshot of him praising himself after paying tribute to victims at Arlington Cemetery. 

A call for vigilance 

One of the most striking aspects of the 2024 election misinformation landscape is how little of it is genuinely new. Recycled claims of stolen valor, citizenship doubts, and corruption have resurfaced, amplified by modern technology. 

As the election approaches, doctored footage and AI-generated content flood social media, the volume of which serves not just to mislead but also to overwhelm. 

In this climate of confusion, it's more important than ever for voters to stay sharp and recognize the falsehoods and misconceptions at the source of these recycled narratives. 

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.