Fake Kamala Harris quote recirculates as she eyes Democratic nomination

"She might be even worse than Biden," says a July 23, 2024 post sharing the quote on X.

The post claims Harris said on June 18, 2020: "And once Trump's gone and we have regained our rightful place in the White House, look out if you supported him and endorsed his actions because we'll be coming for you next. You will feel the vengeance of a nation. No stone will be left unturned as we seek you out in this great nation. For it is you that betrayed us."

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Screenshot from X taken July 24, 2024

Similar posts spread across X, where doctored images and other falsehoods targeting Harris have surged since Biden decided to suspend his reelection campaign and endorse the vice president.

Democratic delegates have rallied en masse behind Harris, whose campaign quickly raked in donations as she and other party leaders contrasted her background as a prosecutor with Trump's status as a convicted felon.

While Harris has criticized the former Republican president, there is no evidence she ever promised to punish his supporters with "the vengeance of a nation."

The quote spreading on X comes almost verbatim from a made-up statement in a 2019 article from Bustatroll.org headlined: "Kamala Harris: 'After We Impeach, We Round Up The Trump Supporters.'"

The article appeared under a section of the website titled: "Satire and/or Conservative Fan Fiction."

Bustatroll.org is one of many websites affiliated with "America's Last Line of Defense," a network that "publishes false stories and hoaxes that are often mistaken for real news," according to NewsGuard, an organization that assesses websites' credibility.

The sites are run by Christopher Blair, who told AFP in 2020 that "confirmation bias" leads people to believe and share the articles.

Fact-checking services such as PolitiFact have repeatedly debunked the fabricated Harris quote since it first circulated in 2019, when the then-US senator was one of several presidential candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.