Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign responded to Elon Musk on Saturday after the tech billionaire shared a deepfake video targeting the VP, which has sparked concerns about his increasing alignment with extreme right-wing rhetoric.
Last Sunday, President Joe Biden officially withdrew from the 2024 race and threw his support behind Harris, following a turbulent period of intra-party conflict over whether he should hand over the reins to a new generation of leaders after his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
On Friday night, Musk, who owns X (formerly Twitter), shared a doctored version of Harris’ “Freedom” ad, complete with fabricated audio and altered visuals. Accompanying the video, Musk commented, “This is amazing,” and included a laughing emoji. The post quickly garnered significant attention, amassing 119 million views by Sunday afternoon.
The distorted ad featured a message mocking Harris’ identity and qualifications: “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist.”
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In response, the Harris campaign issued a statement condemning Musk’s actions: “We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and [former President] Donald Trump.”
Harris campaign on @elonmusk sharing this video with fake audio of VP:
"We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump." https://t.co/5IHpIG1UYP
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) July 28, 2024
