Fake Kamala Harris quote circulates amid 2024 Olympics

"Today, we celebrate the Olympics. Because Olympians are Olympic, & they are at the Olympics being Olympian, so it's more important now than ever to support their Olympianism," Harris is quoted as saying in July 28, 2024 posts on Threads, Facebook and X.

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Screenshot from Threads taken July 29, 2024

The posts spread as the United States squad looks to top the medal table in Paris for the fourth straight Games -- and as Harris eyes the Democratic nomination for the White House, having secured an array of key endorsements after President Joe Biden's decision to bow out of the race against Donald Trump.

Since her sudden entry into the race, internet memes rooted in the vice president's sometimes oddball quotes have exploded online.

There has also been a surge of misinformation, including a manipulated video in which Harris appears to say: "Today is today. And yesterday was today, yesterday. Tomorrow will be today, tomorrow."

The supposed Olympics quote is similarly fabricated.

"This is very clearly fake," Ammar Moussa, Harris's director of rapid response, told AFP in a July 30 email.

Keyword searches for the quote returned no credible results.

Harris did voice support for the US Olympic squad, telling competitors in a July 26 video message posted to X that "we are so proud of all of you" and to "slay" in Paris (archived here). Days earlier, she told collegiate athletes at the White House that those of them heading to the Games would be "ambassadors for our nation" (archived here).

Before Biden exited the race, Harris also stopped by a practice for the US men's basketball team (archived here and here).

Some athletes have since backed her candidacy, including four-time NBA champion Steph Curry and Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in track and field history.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.