No, CNN did not air graphic showing Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Texas

What is the claim?

As the United States presidential election approaches on November 5, 2024, a purported screenshot from a CNN broadcast is circulating on social media. This graphic allegedly shows Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris leading Republican candidate Donald Trump in Texas. 

The viral image displays a chyron with the text “Key Race Alert” for Texas, indicating that Harris has received 1,113,499 votes (51.8 percent), surpassing Trump’s 982,091 votes (45.7 percent) by a margin of 121,408 votes.

The screenshot is being shared across multiple platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Threads, 4Chan, and Instagram, accompanied by claims suggesting the likelihood of the election being "stolen" if Harris wins in Texas, a state traditionally viewed as a Republican stronghold. 

One user on X stated, “If Kamala ‘wins’ in Texas and other red states, then we’ll know they stole it!” Another user posted the image with the caption, “Hey Texas, looks like they are stealing your election.” At the time of writing, this post had garnered over 4.6 million views and more than 56,000 likes. Archived versions of these posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of posts with similar claims. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, our investigation found that the viral screenshot does not represent a genuine CNN broadcast, and the graphic has been digitally altered.

What are the facts?

We conducted a search using relevant keywords but found no reports or graphics from CNN indicating that Harris is leading in Texas against Trump.

The viral screenshot closely resembles graphics used by CNN during its coverage of the 2020 presidential election, as seen in a video posted on YouTube (archived here) and the Internet Archive's TV Archive. The original video from November 2020 features a similar graphic showing incumbent President Joe Biden ahead of Trump in Texas at the 49-second mark.

Additionally, the viral image includes text at the bottom left stating that “polls closed at 9:00 ET,” which contradicts information from the VoteTexas website. According to VoteTexas, polls on Election Day in 2024 will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Texas. CBS News confirms that “Polls in Texas close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5, except in El Paso, where polls close at 7 p.m. MT, or 8 p.m. CT.”

A comparison between the CNN video and the viral photo. (Source: X/Internet Archive/TV Archive)

Moreover, the viral image contains inaccuracies in the reported vote differences. The actual difference between Harris's (1,113,499) and Trump's (982,091) votes is 131,408, not the 121,408 shown in the viral image.

CNN issues statement

We also found an official statement from CNN Communications on their X account (archived here and here). The statement declared the viral screenshot fake, asserting, “This image is completely fabricated and manipulated; it never aired on any CNN platform.”

CNN Communications referenced a post (archived here) by BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, who initially shared the viral screenshot, confirming that the image depicting the purported CNN poll is fabricated.

Screenshot of a CNN statement regarding the viral graphic. (Source: X/@CNNPR/Modified by Logically Facts) 

The verdict

The viral image circulating on social media, claiming to show a CNN poll with Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump, is fake. CNN clarified in a statement on X that the platform never aired such a poll, and several discrepancies further indicate its inauthenticity.

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