The billionaire troll posted a deepfake video with altered audio that made it sound like Harris said she did not “know the first thing about running the country” and is “the ultimate diversity hire.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign responded to Elon Musk on Saturday after the tech billionaire shared a deepfake video targeting the VP, which has sparked concerns about his increasing alignment with extreme right-wing rhetoric.
Last Sunday, President Joe Biden officially withdrew from the 2024 race and threw his support behind Harris, following a turbulent period of intra-party conflict over whether he should hand over the reins to a new generation of leaders after his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
On Friday night, Musk, who owns X (formerly Twitter), shared a doctored version of Harris’ “Freedom” ad, complete with fabricated audio and altered visuals. Accompanying the video, Musk commented, “This is amazing,” and included a laughing emoji. The post quickly garnered significant attention, amassing 119 million views by Sunday afternoon.
The distorted ad featured a message mocking Harris’ identity and qualifications: “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist.”
