7 Hoaxes Pushed by ‘The Truths We Hold’ Author Kamala Harris

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has peddled a series of hoaxes as a U.S. senator and vice president, a   Washington Free Beacon   analysis found.

Here are the seven most egregious hoaxes pushed by Harris, author of the memoir   The Truths We Hold .

Jussie Smollett

"Jussie Smollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know," Harris wrote on Jan. 29, 2019.

Days earlier, the actor claimed two Trump supporters in "MAGA" hats brutally beat him on a Chicago street as they shouted anti-gay and anti-black slurs. Harris joined a swarm of celebrities and Democratic politicians in denouncing the attack, which they claimed was an example of the rising tide of hate crimes in the Trump era.

"This was an attempted modern day lynching," Harris   wrote .

But it was all an elaborate lie. Smollett had hired two friends, both black, to stage an attack on him to garner public sympathy. He was convicted of making false statements to police and sentenced to 150 days in jail.

Harris lightly criticized Smollett after his ruse was exposed,   saying   she was "sad, disappointed, and frustrated."

But Harris, the former attorney general of California, quickly pivoted to using Smollett’s lie as a teachable moment about the scourge of legitimate hate crimes across the country. "At the same time, we must speak the truth: hate crimes are on the rise in America," said Harris, who has repeatedly dodged questions about her facilitation of the Smollett hoax.

Horse-riding border agents whipped Haitian migrants

In September 2021, photographs went viral of horse-riding Customs and Border Protection agents attempting to round up a group of Haitian migrants who had illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. It stoked outcry from liberals, who claimed the photos showed the agents using whips to hunt down black migrants—evoking images of the slave patrols of yesteryear.

Harris, who served as the administration’s "border czar," joined in the fray, accusing the federal agents of "horrible" atrocities against the Haitian migrants. "But human beings should never be treated that way and I am deeply troubled by it,"   said   Harris, who called for a "thorough investigation."

An internal investigation debunked all of the most serious allegations against the border agents. While it   found   examples of inadequate policies and training, the supposed whips seen in photographs were actually reins for the horses, which border agents often ride in rough terrain.

"​​The investigation found no evidence that agents struck any person with horse reins," the investigation found.

Not only were the migrants unharmed, they were allowed to remain in the United States. "There is no evidence that any migrants were forced to return to Mexico or denied entry to the United States," the report said.

Harris has not apologized for her remarks.

‘Forced sterilizations’ at Trump-era immigration detention facility 

In September 2020, a former employee at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Georgia claimed a physician had performed unnecessary hysterectomies on numerous immigrant women. The whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, said the physician in question, Mahendra Amin, was referred to by detainees as the "uterus collector."

Harris joined the frenzy, calling for an investigation into the "horrific allegations."

"Forced sterilization has a long and dark history in our country and this must be investigated immediately,"   said   Harris.

But Wooten made up many of the claims, according to several independent investigations. Wooten had no first-hand knowledge of the allegations against Amin, and had not spoken to any detainees who claimed the physician mistreated them.

A Democrat-led Senate investigation found Amin performed only two hysterectomies during his time at the facility, both of which were deemed medically necessary. The physician   has sued   MSNBC for defamation for airing multiple segments based on Wooten’s allegations. Emails revealed through the lawsuit show MSNBC anchors Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes were skeptical of Wooten, but aired her story anyway.

Harris has not apologized for her role in stoking the hoax.

Michael Brown’s ‘murder’

"Michael Brown’s murder forever changed Ferguson and America," Harris   wrote   on Aug. 9, 2019, the five-year anniversary of Brown’s death.

Brown’s death was a rallying cry for liberal activists, and helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement. Democrats and activists claimed Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, murdered the black teenager in cold blood as he held up his arms in surrender, shouting: "Don’t shoot."

"His tragic death sparked a desperately needed conversation and a nationwide movement. We must fight for stronger accountability and racial equity in our justice system," Harris wrote.

But Brown was not murdered, and Wilson shot the 19-year-old in self-defense, according to the Obama Justice Department.

Brown was far from the gentle giant portrayed by the liberal media. Moments before his encounter with Wilson, Brown assaulted a convenience store clerk while stealing cigarettes. When Wilson stopped Brown on the street, Brown attacked the officer inside his cruiser, grabbed Wilson’s service weapon, and fired it inside the car. Brown fled, but then turned around and charged at Wilson, according to eyewitnesses.

Julie Swetnick

Much of Harris’s support among Democrats stems from her high-profile performance in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Harris took the lead in promoting the unsupported allegations that Kavanaugh sexually harassed a high school classmate, Christine Blasey Ford, and engaged in other crude behavior as a young man.

Beyond Ford, Harris touted other witnesses found to have fabricated their allegations against Kavanaugh.

Harris and her Democratic colleagues   touted   the "serious" and "credible" allegations of Julie Swetnick, who claimed Kavanaugh and his friends routinely spiked drinks of girls at high school parties in the 1980s in order to rape them. Swetnick, represented at the time by disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, claimed she was assaulted at a party Kavanaugh attended.

Harris and others praised Swetnick and other Kavanaugh accusers for taking "great personal risk" to go public against the judicial nominee, and urged a federal investigation into her allegations.

But Swetnick lied, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee   referred   her and Avenatti to the FBI for investigation after she admitted in a television interview that she never witnessed Kavanaugh spiking drinks at parties. The committee found Swetnick had a history of "making false legal claims and false allegations of sexual misconduct."

Jacob Blake 

Harris’s first act after accepting the vice presidential nomination in August 2020 was a trip to Wisconsin to meet the family of Jacob Blake, a black man shot by police in Kenosha during an arrest attempt.

The shooting, Harris   said , had "pierced the soul of the nation." According to Democrats and liberal news outlets, the case was yet another example of systemic racism prevalent in policing. The case touched off deadly riots and looting in Kenosha.

But Blake was far from the innocent victim Harris and others portrayed. He was shot after brandishing a knife against a police officer who was trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant related to a sexual assault charge. Blake had an extensive criminal history, including charges of domestic abuse and sex crimes.

Joe Biden is ‘on top of it’

Perhaps Harris’s most egregious hoax has been that her boss Joe Biden had a firm grasp on the duties of his office and that there would be no need for her to replace him.

In February, Harris   claimed   Biden was "on top of and in front of" all of his presidential duties. She was responding to a report from Special Counsel Robert Hur that said Biden displayed a faulty memory throughout an interview about his handling of classified documents. Harris said the report was a gratuitous and politically motivated attack on the president.

She shot down other concerns about Biden’s age. After this year's State of the Union speech, Harris   said   Biden was "absolutely on fire" and that his performance "answered any question that anyone might have" about his capabilities.

She said she was "ready" to replace Biden if necessary, "but it’s not going to be necessary."

Now, Harris is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee after Biden bowed out of the presidential race over concerns about his disastrous debate performance against former president Donald Trump last month. Harris defended Biden after the debate as a "real leader," even as she acknowledged he got off to a "slow start."

But numerous   sources   have   come forward   since the debate detailing instances stretching back years where Biden appeared incoherent or confused during meetings with government officials. That has put the spotlight on Harris and others in Biden’s orbit regarding what his inner circle knew about his true condition.

The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.