No, Kamala Harris has not been replaced by an actor

By: Nikolaj Kristensen
May 4 2023

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Context

On April 26, 2023, a Twitter user shared six-month-old footage of a static Secret Service motorcade, suggesting that a car accident was arranged to replace U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris with an actor.

Kamala Harris was involved in a minor car accident on October 3, 2022, as her vehicle hit a curb in a tunnel in Washington D.C., a Secret Service agent told the Washington Post. The motorcade was brought to a standstill as the vehicle’s tire had to be replaced, and Harris was moved to another car. Medical staff later examined Harris to ensure she had not sustained any injuries.

However, Harris has made numerous public appearances since the incident, and claims that the Vice President has been replaced by a body double are unsubstantiated.

The claim is the latest in a long line of body double theories that claim prominent celebrities and political figures have been replaced by actors.

In Fact

The Vice President has made numerous public appearances since the accident. Two days after the incident, she visited Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut, to discuss women's reproductive rights. On April 27, she met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during his visit to the capital.

The Twitter user promoting this narrative has previously called Harris a “cabalist,” which forms part of an infamous conspiracy where a supposed cabal, composed of a secret elite, seeks to undermine freedom and democracy to pursue a globalist agenda. This is then linked to other conspiracy theories, such as the New World Order, often with antisemitic connotations.

This is not the first time conspiracists have claimed that Harris has been replaced with a body double. On February 7, footage of Harris during the State of the Union Address was shared on TikTok with unfounded claims that the baggy skin on her neck was evidence her mask was slipping off.

Body double theories have become commonplace in recent years, with President Joe Biden, former first lady Melania Trump, and Senate Democrat John Fetterman among those who have been targets of similar claims. Such claims often use poor quality or manipulated images to suggest that a celebrity or a prominent political figure has been replaced by a body double or an actor.

The Verdict

A six-month-old video of a minor car accident involving U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was shared on Twitter, claiming that the accident was staged to replace the Vice President with an actor. Harris was not injured in the accident and has made multiple well-documented public appearances since the incident. Unfounded theories of prominent political figures being replaced by body doubles have increased in recent years. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.