Photos and videos of crowds at Kamala Harris’s rallies across various states have been widely circulated on social media platforms. As the competition intensifies between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, the spread of misinformation is increasing.
Trump Accuses Harris of Fake Crowd Photos
The former president has accused Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign of misleading the public about the number of people who attended her rally in Detroit, Michigan, on August 7. In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that artificial intelligence was used to create the crowd photo and that the group "didn't exist."
He then said Harris should be “disqualified” from the 2024 election “because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!”
Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said on LinkedIn, “I’ve analyzed this image with two GetReal Labs models designed to detect different patterns associated with AI-generated images. Both models reveal no evidence of AI generation.”
He added, “While the lack of evidence of manipulation is not proof that the image is real, we find no evidence that this image is AI-generated or digitally altered.”
Misbar’s team double-checked the photo using an AI detection tool, and the result was: “The input is not likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”
David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign, shared Trump’s post and commented, “These are not conspiratorial rantings from the deepest recesses of the internet. The author could have the nuclear codes and be responsible for decisions that will affect us all for decades.”
Satirical Content Fuels Surge in Election Misinformation
Several accounts have shared a video showing Kamala Harris arriving in Michigan and stepping off the plane, with numerous supporters waiting to greet her. An account on X, named “Joshwho,” posted the video with the caption: "Want to see how fake the Kamala Harris campaign really is? Watch here.”
Another account called Richard shared the video and commented, “Apparently, the Harris campaign is now so desperate that they have resorted to using fake crowd photos.”
After a thorough search, Misbar's team found that the video was created by a satirical German page called “Snickers für Linkshänder,” which specializes in deepfake videos. The page posted the video, which reached 433 thousand views on the X platform, with the caption: “Dude, I made this on my laptop in like 10 minutes. Imagine what they can do with a couple mill!”
Another photo has gone viral on Threads and X platforms, showing thousands of supporters attending Harris’s rally last weekend. An account on Threads posted the photo with the caption: “Over a million people attended the Kamala rally this weekend—it's almost unbelievable.”
After performing a reverse image search, Misbar's team found that the photo was first published by an account called Louis Kc, which defines itself as “comedy, satire, and parody.” The account posted the photo, which reached 11 million views, on August 11 with the caption: “Over a million people showed up to the Kamala rally this weekend. You can’t make this up.” The photo then went viral on other accounts.
After testing the photo with an AI detection tool, it appears that “the input is likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content with 99.9% certainty.”
Social media activists shared photos of Harris’s supporters who looked strange and uncomfortable. One user commented, “Look closely at these Kamala rally photos. WTH?! Some look alien???”
However, the truth is that the photo is AI-generated and was shared by an account called “Dr. Literaleigh A Pheline,” which commented, “That's a photo that I generated with AI. Zoom in a bit, and you'll see that the faces aren't even well-developed. Yeah, I run a parody account—glad you enjoyed the post!”
Moreover, Misbar’s team analyzed the image in an AI-generation detector, called Hive, and found the result to be a 99.9% AI-generated photo.
Harris Faces Fierce Competition From Trump
Kamala Harris, 59 years old, entered the election following Joe Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from consideration for reelection on July 21. Biden faced strong pressure from fellow Democrats and endorsed Harris as his vice president.
On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris took office as the first woman, Black American, and Southeast Asian American to be chosen for the vice presidency, making history.
Trump will debate Harris next September on ABC. He has already begun to play his peculiar game of expectations by disparaging the qualifications of his opponent, who may become the first South Asian and Black woman to hold the presidency.
During a press conference last week at his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump criticized Harris, saying that Biden lacked the mental capacity to be president. “She’s actually not as smart as he is. I don’t think he’s very smart either, by the way. I’m not a big fan of his brain,” Trump said.
Fake Rumors Evolving Around Kamala Harris
Factual evidence has refuted recent allegations regarding Kamala Harris's eligibility and background. First, it is false to claim that Harris is not an American citizen; she was born in Oakland, California, and is a natural-born citizen. Similarly, it is incorrect to say that Harris is not Black. Due to her Jamaican and Indian ancestry, she identifies as both Black and Indian.
Falsified quotations and edited videos have also contributed to the spread of misinformation. A comment falsely attributed to Harris as a warning to Trump supporters was actually taken from a satirical article, and a video of her address was altered to make it appear as though she said something different.
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