A video authentically shows Kamala Harris being “too drunk to stand up” during the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
During the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19, X-user @iAnonPatriot — whose biography showed her support for former US President Donald Trump — released a 20-second video clip allegedly showing US Vice President Kamala Harris “too drunk to stand up”.
The user’s post (archived) read: “BREAKING NEWS: Kamala Harris appears to be too drunk to stand up. This is getting worse.” At the time of this writing, the user had pinned the post to the top of their profile and it has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
However, this claim was false. Just seconds after the short video clip ended, Harris stood and applauded during President Joe Biden’s four-minute-plus standing ovation. She also stood and applauded minutes earlier and throughout the evening. In other words, @iAnonPatriot’s claim was fabricated. Furthermore, they provided no evidence that Harris allegedly consumed alcohol or was “intoxicated.”
We have sent a direct message to @iAnonPatriot requesting comment on this matter but have not yet received a response.
Review of evidence
The video clip posted by @iAnonPatriot shows a moment from the end of an Aug. 19 speech by President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley Biden. Towards the end of her speech, she said, “In 2020, my father picked Kamala Harris to beat Donald Trump. And he knows she will beat Donald Trump again in 2024.”
At that moment, the audience stood and applauded Harris. Harris remained seated, as the applause had been awarded to her. In such a situation, it may be customary to humbly show one’s appreciation by sitting down or standing up.
Seconds later, after Ashley Biden introduced her father for his keynote speech, Harris stood and applauded for more than four minutes. Again, Harris stood and applauded throughout the evening.
A video broadcast live on YouTube by CBS News shows all of the above moments in continuous sequence. The 20 seconds of @iAnonPatriot’s video clip of Ashley Biden’s speech comes at minute 10:39. The same video also shows numerous shots of Harris standing up and applauding during Biden’s standing ovation between minute 12:00 and minute 16:14.
For further reading, we previously reported on a similar false rumor that a video featured former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. drunk and slurred.
