Old Harris speech on power misrepresented online

As the 2024 presidential election draws near, footage of an old Kamala Harris speech has resurfaced in social media posts claiming it depicts the Democratic nominee saying she could "ruin lives" with "the swipe of a pen." This is misleading; the clip is cut short to omit the US vice president's comments on the responsible use of power.

"Power hungry Kamala Harris describing how she can ruin lives with the 'swipe of a pen' ... If elected, Kamala Harris would be a dictator on day 1," says an August 16, 2024 X post from filmmaker Eric Abbenante.

The post includes a video in which Harris appears to describe how she could use the law to derail someone's life.

"I learned that with the swipe of my pen, I could charge someone with the lowest-level offense, and because of the swipe of my pen, that person could be arrested," Harris says in the footage.

Similar posts circulated on other platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Republican nominee Donald Trump and his supporters have ramped up criticism of the Democratic candidate since President Joe Biden announced in July that he would not seek reelection, endorsing Harris instead. A wave of misinformation followed.

The former California prosecutor and attorney general has faced scrutiny for her record, but the latest posts share Harris's comments about power out of context.

A keyword search reveals the footage shows a speech she delivered September 6, 2019 at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual banquet. Harris attended the event as she campaigned for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination (archived here).

In the speech, she describes the consequences individuals may face if leaders do not understand the weight of their decision-making power -- a lesson she said she learned while working as a prosecutor.

Harris refers to then-president Trump as someone "who does not fully, or even partially, understand what it means to have power."

Here are Harris's remarks, with the part shared online in bold:

"I learned -- I think I was 22 when I started that work. I learned that with the swipe of my pen I could charge someone with the lowest level offense, and because of the swipe of my pen, that person could be arrested, they could sit in jail for at least 48 hours, they could lose time from work and their family, maybe lose their job, they would have to come out of their own pocket to hire a lawyer, they would lose standing in their community -- all because of the swipe of my pen. Weeks later, I could dismiss the charges, but their life would forever be changed. So, I learned at a very young age the power -- the power to impact real human beings that we have when we hold these offices.

"I was just a lowly deputy DA. Yet we have a person in the White House who holds the office of president of the United States who does not fully, or even partially, understand what it means to have power. Let's be clear about that. He goes around swinging what he thinks is his power -- he does not understand what it means to be powerful. Because when you truly understand what it means to be powerful, you understand that the greatest measure of your strength is not who you beat down; it is who you lift up."

Additional keyword searches show she shared similar sentiments in 2010 (archived here) while campaigning for California attorney general.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation about the 2024 election is available here.