Deepfake video of Kamala Harris shared to claim she delivered incoherent speech

What's the claim

A deepfake video of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has been widely shared, in which she appears to slur her words while giving an incoherent speech. In the clip, Harris, dressed in a beige suit, appears to say: "Today is today, and yesterday was today. Yesterday, tomorrow will be today tomorrow, so live today. So the future today will be as the past today as it is tomorrow."

On X (formerly Twitter), the video was shared with captions like: "TBH the White House cocaine could've been anyone's…" which received about 105.2k views, and "Kamala Harris is nutso... 'Today is today. And yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So live today so that future today will past today, as it is tomorrow.'" Archive links to such posts can be found here, here, and here.

Screenshot of the posts circulating online (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the 22-second video has been digitally altered. The original footage, from a 2023 reproductive rights rally at Howard University called "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom," does not show her making such a statement.

What we found

By conducting a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, we found that it originates from a speech Harris gave at a reproductive freedom rally at Howard University, Washington, D.C., live-streamed on Facebook by Reproductive Freedom for All on April 26, 2023 (archived here). This organization advocates for reproductive rights and access in the U.S. 

Harris is shown approaching the podium at 56 minutes and 50 seconds into the Facebook livestream. In both the edited video circulating on social media and the original footage, Harris is seen in the same clothing, with two of the same people visible behind her.

Comparison of a screenshot from the viral video with the original footage. (Source: X/Facebook)

During her speech, Harris began by addressing Brittany Watts, a woman whose case gained significant attention due to the abortion ban in Ohio. Harris praised her courage for sharing her personal and private story and acknowledging Watts for giving a voice to many women who need to be seen and heard. Harris also thanked the leaders of NARAL (Reproductive Freedom For All), Planned Parenthood, Emily's List, an American political action committee, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for their leadership. 

She also recounted her own experiences at Howard, recalling her first visit during freshman orientation, where she met people who became lifelong friends. She then went on to say that her first political campaign was as a freshman class representative on the Liberal Arts Student Council, and she noted her pride in running for reelection with President Joe Biden as vice president of the U.S.

The altered segment

Approximately one hour, one minute, and five seconds into the video, she can be heard saying, "So I think it's very important, as you have heard from so many incredible leaders, for us at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past but the future."

The segment between 1:01:10 and 1:01:32 of the original clip matches Harris' gestures in the edited version shared online. However, the clip has been manipulated using artificial intelligence tools, overlaying audio resembling the vice president's actual voice and altering her mouth movements to match the incoherent speech. Despite this visual alignment, the audio is misleading and does not accurately represent her original speech.

We also located the full text of her speech on the White House's website, where we found no reference to the statement featured in the viral video.

What is the source of the fake video?

This deepfake video has been shared before. It first appeared in 2023 and was debunked by fact-checking organizations at that time.

On reviewing posts by social media users sharing this video in May 2023, we noted that the podium in the viral version carried the words "Ramble Rants Reproductive Freedom." However, the podium in the original video read "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom."

Comparison of screenshots from a 2023 Facebook post with the original footage. (Source: X/Facebook)

Taking a cue from this, we looked for an account called Ramble Rants on social media and found that they had posted the video on April 29, 2023, with the caption, "Tomorrow will be today, tomorrow." The account, whose bio reads "Meme Boss," appears to regularly make memes and edited videos of several U.S. politicians, including Biden and Harris. Several comments from the account in the thread of the original post, in which they replied to other users, indicated that the account had made the viral video.

The verdict

The video of Vice President Kamala Harris seemingly speaking gibberish is not authentic. The footage is from her speech at a rally for reproductive freedom from April 2023, but it has been doctored to make it appear as though she made the statements in the viral video.

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