A video of Kamala Harris yelling was viewed more than one million times in Chinese social media posts that falsely claimed it showed the vice president’s reaction to her impending defeat in the US elections as results began to show Donald Trump was headed for a second presidential term. The video was in fact taken at a rally in Texas before election day. Harris gave a defiant concession speech after Trump’s victory was announced, while vowing to help his transition to power.
“Harris’s momentum was over and she freaked out at the rally. She couldn’t laugh anymore,” read a simplified Chinese X post shared on November 7, 2024.
In the video, Harris yells and gestures to a crowd, who can be heard chanting: “We’re not going back.”
Screenshot of the false X post, captured on November 15, 2024
The same video was shared alongside similar claims on Weibo and TikTok as results began to show Trump leading over Harris in the US elections on November 5 (archived link).
“Who wouldn’t be mad about losing like this?” read one user comment, suggesting they believed the video showed Harris on election night.
“The look on her face tells you the election situation,” another wrote.
Trump later went on to claim a “magnificent” victory over the vice president before the final results were in (archived link).
The win gives him almost complete control over the levers of US government now that Republicans have added the House of Representatives to their White House and Senate victories (archived link).
On November 7, Harris gave a defiant concession speech in Washington after Trump’s stunning win and told tearful supporters in Washington to “not despair” and urging them to “keep fighting” after her loss (archived links here and here).
Her pledge to ensure a peaceful handover stood in stark contrast with Republican Trump’s unprecedented refusal four years ago to admit defeat against Joe Biden, culminating in a violent attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.
The circulating video actually shows Harris at a campaign rally in October 2024, before the election.
Abortion rights rally
AFP found the clip was taken at an October 25, 2024 election rally, by comparing Harris’ outfit and a backdrop with “Freedom” written on it to videos from previous events.
ABC-affiliated television station WFAA published footage from the event, with the clip shared online starting at the four-minute, 58-second timestamp (archived link).
Harris’s speech was interrupted at one point when the crowd chanted “we’re not going back”, as shown in the WFAA video and in a transcript published by the White House (archived link).
Eleven days before the final vote, Harris was banking on her star-studded show — which featured superstar Beyoncé and 91-year-old country legend Willie Nelson — to bring abortion to the forefront of voters’ minds (archived link).
“We are 11 days out from an election that will decide the future of America, including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body and her reproductive freedom,” she said after her speech was interrupted.
“And moving forward, we understand that what we must do, Texas, is right here, you, who are ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom, we must be loud.
“Texas is home to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in our country.”
Trump eventually won the Texas contest and 40 electoral votes, with a reportedly historic margin of over one million votes (archived links here and here).
AFP has debunked a wave of misinformation around the US election here.
