Did Disney say it was adding Kamala Harris to its Hall of Presidents? No, that's not true: The story originated from self-described satire and parody website Mouse Trap News, which says on its site, "We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff." Lead Stories could not locate any credible evidence of Disney having made such an announcement.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on November 18, 2024. Text with the video read:
This is a very controversial move by Disney! #disneyworld #disneynews #presidentialelection #election #donaldtrump #kamalaharris #hallofpresidents
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Nov 26 19:06:20 2024 UTC)
At the beginning of the one-minute video, a narrator says, "Disney is adding Kamala Harris to the Hall of Presidents."
The TikTok account that posted the video has a disclaimer in its bio reading:
‼️Real Disney News That is 100% FAKE‼️ ⬇️Visit our website for full stories⬇️ linktr.ee/mousetrapnews
Clicking that link directs to the link for mousetrapnews.com. The About section for Mouse Trap News (archived here) clearly states it is a satire website:
What is Mouse Trap News?
Mouse Trap News is the world's best satire and parody site ... We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff. From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun. So technically our slogan The Moused Trusted Name in Disney News isn't true, but we thought it was creative and funny, so we are running with it. ...Mouse Trap News was created on a whim to have some fun and write stories about Disney we wish were true.
The Hall of Presidents is an attraction located in Walt Disney World in Florida, with lifelike figures of U.S. presidents.
A search of Google News (archived here), a search of Google (archived here) and a search of Disney.com using Google (archived here) did not produce results corroborating the claim. If Disney had made such an announcement, it would have made major news, especially after the November 2024 presidential election.
Lead Stories reached out to Disney for comment and will update this fact check if a response is received.
What do we consider not to be satire?
Lead Stories has a Satire Policy that explains when we fact check satire and when we don't: Sometimes articles from humor or satire publications are copied by other sites and presented as real. In such cases we will label the copies as "False."
When this fact check was written, Snopes had reviewed the same claim.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Mouse Trap News can be found here. Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Disney can be found here. Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Kamala Harris can be found here.
