Was the latest book by Kamala Harris yanked from the shelves after it was found to be 30% plagiarized? No, that's not true: The former vice president has authored three books as of June 2025, including the last two published in 2019. Each of those books is still available for purchase online and in bookstores. Her first book, which was published in 2010, did come under criticism for suspicion of plagiarism in 2024, but it is also still available for purchase. Harris's presidential campaign denied there were inadequate attributions in "Smart on Crime" and a plagiarism expert said it was just "sloppy writing."
The claim appeared in a meme (archived here) shared on Instagram on May 23, 2025. It read:
LMAO! KAMALA HARRIS' NEW BOOK GETS PULLED AFTER IT'S FOUND TO BE 30% PLAGIARIZED.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of Instagram by Lead Stories)
BUSTED! Kamala Harris just got exposed--her latest book was yanked from shelves after being found 30% plagiarized. Is anyone even surprised? The same people who lecture us on "ethics" can't even write their own material. This is what happens when mediocrity is propped up by media spin and identity politics. America deserves real leaders, not frauds playing pretend. Plagiarists don't belong in the White House!
#KamalaExposed #PlagiaristVP #FraudAlert #MAGA2025 #DrainTheSwamp #NoMoreLies #TrumpTruth
Harris has authored or co-authored three books. "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey" and "Superheroes Are Everywhere" were both published just as Harris began her first presidential campaign in January 2019. Her first book -- "Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer" was published during her successful run to be California Attorney General in 2010. All three books are still available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Allegations that sections of "Smart on Crime" were plagiarized arose in October 2024, just weeks before the 2024 presidential election. JD Vance tweeted that while he "wrote my own book," Harris "copied hers from Wikipedia."
Hi, I'm JD Vance. I wrote my own book, unlike Kamala Harris, who copied hers from Wikipedia. https://t.co/tkZvK8LrI3
-- JD Vance (@JDVance) October 14, 2024
Vance's tweet linked to a blog post (archived here) by Christopher Rufo that outlined specific passages that he said were the "textbook definition of plagiarism."
Plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey wrote in an analysis for Plagiarism Today (archived here) that it was "more about sloppy writing habits than an intent to defraud."
The Harris campaign defended the book, saying it "clearly cited sources and statistics in footnotes and endnotes throughout."
All of Harris's books remain on the shelf for purchase.
