Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
US vice president Kamala Harris praises the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 26, which had triggered intense backlash over a controversial performance many viewers found as an “insult towards Christians”.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Kamala Harris Olympics opening ceremony,” which did not throw up any news reports about her praising the event.
We then looked up her Twitter handle @KamalaHarris, as seen in the viral screenshot, where we did not find any such tweet. We also did not find the tweet on the timeline of the official Twitter account of the vice president of the US, @VP, indicating that the screenshot may have been digitally created.
Harris had not posted anything about the Olympics in the 24 hours since the roughly four-hour opening ceremony began at around 1:30 pm (US time) on July 26, 2024 (Friday).
The analytics tool, Social Blade, too, showed that no tweet was deleted on July 26 and July 27, confirming that the viral screenshot was fake.
Also Read: Viral Video Showing ‘Bijlee Mahadev’ In Kullu Is Actually From Guatemala
Result: False
Sources
@KamalaHarris, Twitter account
@VP, Twitter account
SocialBlade tool
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
