Trump Repeats False Claim Harris Used Earpiece In Debate

Topline

Former President Donald Trump used opening statements in his Friday rally in Las Vegas to further a debunked claim pushed by right-wing figures accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of using audio earrings to cheat in their debate, which was generally seen as a victory for Harris.

Trump delivered a speech in Las Vegas on Friday night. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump claimed he was victorious in the debate during the start of Friday’s rally, saying Harris “offered American voters nothing but falsehoods” before claiming she used an earpiece that fed her advice in the debate—an unfounded claim pushed heavily after the debate by Trump allies.

Trump said he “heard [Harris] had something in the ear, a little something in the ear” and claimed she was told how to behave and respond to questions, echoing the claim spread by figures like Trump senior adviser Jason Miller and far-right media personality Laura Loomer, who Trump defended this week over a string of racist comments she recently made.

The false claim is based on slight similarities between the Tiffany earrings Harris wore to the debate and the Nova H1 Audio Earrings, both of which feature pearls.

On closer inspection, it seems clear Harris was wearing the Tiffany earrings, which have been worn by Harris on several prior occasions, feature a pearl placed in front of a stud and slightly between two gold rods, while the audio earrings sport a singular clip design for ear lobes.

Malte Iversen, managing director of Icebach Sound Solutions, the company behind the audio earrings, told Forbes on Wednesday that Icebach had no knowledge about what earrings Harris wore during the debate, though he noted a “striking” similarity between the audio and Tiffany earrings.

Trump also repeated a false claim he made earlier in the week, accusing Harris of receiving the debate questions in advance—though the former president claimed no evidence, and the questions posed to both candidates seemed relatively predictable.

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Tangent

Trump called Loomer a “strong person” with “strong opinions” when asked Friday about increasing Republican scrutiny of the far-right conspiracy theorist. Loomer, who does not work with Trump in any official capacity but has been seen with Trump at multiple events in recent weeks, helped spread the Haitian immigrant conspiracy theory this week and recently said the White House would “smell like curry” if Harris were elected. Several Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., bashed Loomer this week, characterizing her rhetoric as a “huge problem.”

Key Background

The unfounded accusations of cheating levied at Harris came after what Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called a “disaster” of a debate performance from Trump on Tuesday night, according to a Republican Trump critic at The Bulwark, Tim Miller. The former president was baited into tangents throughout the debate and used some of his time to push conspiracy theories, including one accusing Haitian immigrants of eating cats and dogs in the small city of Springfield, Ohio, even though local law enforcement reported receiving “no credible reports” of migrants harming pets. Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Trump “chased every rabbit down every hole instead of talking about the things that he should have been talking about,” according to The New York Times. The debate was a crucial moment in the election cycle, with Trump and Harris entering the event amid a tight race that shifted in Harris’ favor following the event. The Vice President leads Trump by five points in a Morning Consult poll taken Wednesday (50% to 45%) and a Reuters/Ipsos poll published Thursday (47% to 42%).