Fact check: False claims that Kamala Harris staged airplane boarding proliferate online
The claim: Images show Vice President Kamala Harris staged boarding an airplane
A May 16 post on Facebook features an image that shows a person wearing a black coat and black Converse with their back to the camera. The person is standing with four men in uniform at the base of some stairs that lead up to a green screen.
“ENJOYING THE SHOW EVERYONE KAMALA JUST ABOUT TO BOARD THE GREEN SCREEN ENJOY THE MOVIE,” reads the caption on the photo, which has more than 500 interactions.
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Harris is known to wear white and black Converse sneakers, but the image predates the Biden administration. It was posted on Twitter in May 2017 and shows the set of the TV show “Designated Survivor.” Other images and videos that claim to show Harris staged boarding an airplane are similarly wrong.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the photo for comment.
Image is from 2017
The original photo was posted on Twitter and Instagram on May 3, 2017, by Kal Penn, actor and former associate director for the White House’s Office of Public Engagement during the Obama administration.
It’s unclear who the person in the black coat is — but it’s not Harris, who was a senator at the time.
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Penn’s tweet indicates the photo was taken during the filming of the political drama series “Designated Survivor,” in which he starred.
USA TODAY reached out to Penn for comment.
Other videos cut before showing airplane
The “Designated Survivor” photo isn’t the only image circulating on social media that makes it seem like Harris staged boarding an airplane.
A TikTok video posted on Twitter shows Harris speaking to a person in uniform and walking toward a staircase on a tarmac. Then the clip stops.
“She goes up the stairs, but where is the plane?” reads the April 24 tweet accompanying the video, which has about 176,000 views.
Photos from Reuters and Getty Images — as well as the full context of the video — disprove the notion that Harris staged the scene.
Photos taken on April 19 match the video posted on social media. They show Harris walking alongside a woman in uniform and then walking up the steps. However, the TikTok video cuts before showing the airplane, which can be seen behind Harris in the images.
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“U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S.,” reads the caption for one of the Reuters photos. She was on her way to North Carolina, according to another photo from Getty Images.
An April 20 YouTube video shows the footage that the TikTok video used. In the longer video, Harris boards the aircraft. Additional White House footage from its official YouTube channel shows Harris in North Carolina on April 19.
Our rating: False
The claim that Harris staged boarding an airplane is FALSE, based on our research. The original photo was posted on social media in 2017 by Kal Penn and shows the filming of the TV drama “Designated Survivor.” Additional images and video footage disprove other false claims that Harris staged boarding an airplane.
Our fact-checking sources:
- Kal Penn, May 3, 2017, tweet
- Washington Post, Sept. 8, 2020, Kamala D. Harris goes viral — for her shoe choice
- Reuters photo, April 19, Vice President Harris arrives to board Air Force Two
- Getty Images, April 19, Vice President Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two
- Reuters photo, April 19, Vice President Harris walking along woman in uniform
- Getty Images, April 19, Vice President Harris walking
- The News Alerts – Podcasts Media on YouTube, April 20, EARLIER: @VP Kamala Harris departs JBA en route to North Carolina
- The White House on YouTube, April 19, Vice President Harris Delivers Remarks on the American Jobs Plan & Lays Out a Vision for the Future
- Reuters, May 19, Fact Check-Air Force Two was at top of plane steps when Kamala Harris boarded
- PolitiFact, May 18, No, these photos don’t show Kamala Harris in front of a green screen
- U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, accessed May 24, HARRIS, Kamala Devi
- Netflix, accessed May 24, “Designated Survivor”
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Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
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