Did Harris and Walz take a selfie next to a communist poster? No, video is altered

What is the claim?

Social media users have circulated a video purportedly showing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the U.S. Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates, taking selfies in front of a poster reading "Revolutionary Communists of America."

The 17-second video depicts Harris and Walz taking selfies in a room decorated with campaign posters while people cheer them on. It was shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, “Walz snaps picture of him and Kamala Harris standing in front of Revolutionary Communist of America sign.”

Another X post featuring the same video had around 1,500 reshares, 1,700 likes, and 41,990 views at the time of publication. Archived versions of similar claims using this video can be viewed here and here. 

Screenshots of the viral claims on social media. (Source: X / Modified by Logically Facts)  

The video emerges as the U.S. approaches the November 2024 election. Our investigation revealed the footage was altered.

What we found

A reverse image search of the video's keyframes led us to a video (archived here) uploaded by Forbes on August 10, 2024. Titled "Kamala Harris And Tim Walz Meet Campaign Volunteers And Staff In Phoenix, Arizona," this video features the same room. At the 9:09 mark, Walz and Harris are seen posing for a photo, consistent with the viral video, but the poster reads “KAMALA AND THE COACH.”

The video’s description confirms that it shows Harris and Walz meeting campaign staff and volunteers in Phoenix, Arizona.

Further searches led us to images on Getty Images (archived here) and a Reuters photo (archived here) showing the Democratic nominees taking a selfie at the campaign event in Arizona.

A screenshot of the Getty Image photograph showing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz posing for a selfie. (Source: Getty Images)

Additionally, a clip clip (archived here) in the Getty repository captures the same moment when Harris and Walz posed for a selfie, indicating they visited a local campaign office in Glendale, Phoenix, Arizona, on August 9, 2024.

The selfie was also posted to Harris and Walz’s Instagram account (archived here) on August 10, 2024. It shows the “KAMALA AND THE COACH” poster, not the alleged communist poster.

Moreover, a similar video (archived here) from a different angle, shared by Harris’ official rapid response account on X, displays the genuine poster.

The verdict 

An image of Democratic nominees Kamala Harris and Tim Walz taking a selfie in front of the “KAMALA AND THE COACH” poster has been manipulated to falsely suggest they were posing with a communist poster.