Fact Check Viral Video Kamala Harris Cocaine Interview

The verdict INCORRECT

The video has been heavily edited. It differs significantly from the original version.

context

A video purportedly depicting US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as being “under the influence of cocaine” has quickly spread across social media (archived). Here).

It is accompanied by the statement: “Anyone who knows people who use cocaine can tell she's loaded into this video.” At the time of writing, the post had 11.7 million views and 33,000 shares on X (formerly Twitter ).

However, this video has been heavily edited and is significantly different from the original.

Actually

We identified the original material through reverse image search Interview from 2019.

During this interview, Harris discussed her book The Truths We Hold with artist and activist Cleo Wade and answered questions. Watching the full interview, you can see that Harris appears more light-hearted as she recounts several episodes, such as remembering meeting her in-laws for the first time. She is more composed when answering more serious questions.

However, the heavily edited video emphasizes moments in which Harris laughs, shows emotion and touches her nose – actions that the creator sees as signals of drug use. Commentators were quick to seize on these cues, particularly the “nose wipe,” as evidence.

However, the unedited version of the video shows that she touches her nose significantly less often. In addition, this behavior may have a medical explanation.

On October 12, 2024, Harris was released a medical summary that described her history of allergies and hives. The summary specifically noted her seasonal allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, which she manages with prescribed medication, including a nasal spray. Her allergies are mild and well controlled, but could be the reason for the occasional nose touching seen in the video.

Given the unedited video, the context surrounding her laughter, and her documented medical condition, there is no basis to state “with certainty” that Kamala Harris was under the influence of drugs in this video.

The verdict

Considering the entire video in the context of Harris' documented allergy history, there is no reason to say with certainty that she was “under the influence.” Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.

This report was first published on logicallyfacts.comand was re-released on ABP Live under a special arrangement. Other than the headline, no changes were made to ABP Live's report.