Does a video show Kamala Harris giving a speech in Los Angeles while drunk? No, that's not true: This video's audio has been slowed down to make Harris sound drunk. The clip was taken from a video of a 2016 speech Harris gave as California's attorney general. That 2016 video shows Harris speaking clearly with no sign of being intoxicated. The altered video also included a digitally inserted red-and-white name tag that was not in the original video.
The claim about Harris appeared in a video shared on Facebook Reels (archived here) on September 23, 2024. The video carried the on-screen title, "Dear Betty Ford.... HELP !!!" The title referred to the Betty Ford Center, founded by former first lady Betty Ford to provide treatment for various addictions, including alcohol.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook Reels screenshot taken on Thu Sep 26 19:42:57 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories was unable to track down the original creator of the video posted on Facebook Reels.
The reel's footage comes from a video that the California Department of Justice posted on YouTube on January 7, 2016. Harris, then California's attorney general, was recognizing a program designed to reduce offender recidivism in Los Angeles.
Lead Stories found the video by doing a search on YouTube, using keywords found in the background of the altered video (archived here).
Adjusting the video's playback speed to 0.75 or 0.50 slows down the pace of Harris' speech to the pace heard in the video on Facebook Reels. This makes it appear that Harris was slurring her words.
Aside from altered audio, the video clip posted on Facebook Reels also had a graphic that did not appear in the original footage. The clip showed on Harris' lapel a red-and-white name tag with the words "Hello I'm a friend of Bill W." That's a reference to being a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. A screenshot can be seen below:
(Source: Facebook Reels screenshot taken on Thu Sep 26 at 21:29:28 2024 UTC)
Harris did not wear any name tag in the original footage, however, as seen in the screenshot below:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Thu Sep 26 at 21:30:49 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories fact checked a similar altered video involving Harris here.
Our fact checks of claims related to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nominee, can be found here. Our fact checks of claims about the 2024 U.S. presidential elections are here.
