Did Kamala Harris snub Ashley Biden by "refusing to stand" during a round of applause after remarks delivered by President Joe Biden's daughter on the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention? No, that's not true: It's a typical response of a person being honored to remain seated, an expert on public speaking told Lead Stories. The context of the scene was a standing ovation following Ashley Biden's remarks praising Harris.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 20, 2024. It said:
Why do you guys think Kamala Harris refused to stand for Ashley Biden?
Here is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Aug 14:40:48 2024 UTC)
The video shared in the entry on X was authentic footage capturing the speech of Ashley Biden on the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention (archived here).
In the clip, she said, as also seen at the 6:33 mark in a C-SPAN recording:
In 2020, my Dad selected Kamala Harris to beat Donald Trump, and he knows in 2024, she will beat Donald Trump again.
After that, the camera moved to a close-up of Kamala Harris who remained in her seat, as people around her stood up for a round of applause.
The post on X, however, misled about the scene.
Harris' behavior, as seen in the recording, did not imply negative attitudes toward Ashley Biden or the situation as a whole. In the last seconds of the clip, she smiled, placed one hand on her chest and said, "Thank you." That is better seen in the C-SPAN version of the video that doesn't have a lower banner partially covering the frame.
Craig Smith (archived here), an emeritus director of the Center for First Amendment Studies at California State University, Long Beach, and a presidential speechwriter for Gerald Ford and a consulting writer for George H.W. Bush, who specializes (archived here) in rhetoric, public address, political conventions and elections, told Lead Stories via email on August 21, 2024:
Often when a person is the main subject of an event or they are being honored, they remain seated sometimes out of respect and sometimes to convey humility even when an ovation is for another person. It is inappropriate for the person to be seen as a cheer leader at her or his event. Appearing dignified is more important than appearing overly enthusiastic.
Previously, the Washington Post (archived here) also wrote in an etiquette column that remaining seated while receiving standing ovations is one standard response to being honored.
Lead Stories reached out to the Kamala Harris campaign for additional comments. If we receive a response, this article will be updated as appropriate.
Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Kamala Harris can be found here. Stories about the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.
