Fact Check: Kamala Harris Never Said 'Today Is Today and Yesterday Was Today Yesterday'

Claim:

A video authentically shows Kamala Harris saying, "Today is today and yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So, live today so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow," during a speech.

Rating:

Fake ( About this rating? )

A 2023 video of Vice President Kamala Harris seemingly speaking incoherently during a speech resurfaced on social media in July 2024. In an X post ( archived ) made on July 15, Harris appears to slur her words and says:

Today is today and yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So, live today so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow.

The X post gained more than 3.3 million views and 6,400 reposts, as of this writing. "Please tell me this is fake. Actually, tell me it's real so I can laugh even harder," wrote the user who shared the video. The footage also was shared on Instagram and TikTok .

However, this video was digitally altered. It was debunked in 2023 when it was originally shared on social media platforms such as X .

In a TikTok video , the fact-checking outlet Politifact found that the video of Harris' speech was clearly altered, as her mouth doesn't move in sync with the words she's purportedly saying:

Reuters spoke to an expert who said the audio made clear it had been faked:

Dr. Dominic Lees, associate professor in filmmaking at the University of Reading, said the audio quality shows the video is not authentic.

"Close observers will detect the video 'noise' around the mouth," he said, adding that the lack of background sound indicates the voice was not recorded at this location.

The original footage that was used in the faked viral video was featured alongside an article from the New York Post about a speech Harris gave April 25, 2023, at Howard University in Washington, D.C.:

Harris wears the same suit in both videos and the people in the background are the same, showing that this is the original, unaltered version of the viral video. A transcript from that speech was released and quoted Harris as saying:

So I think it's very important — as you have heard from so many incredible leaders — for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.

Other news outlets like The Associated Press and KXTV also found that Harris never uttered the quote in question during the speech.

Because the viral video was digitally altered with a voice overlay, we label this claim "Fake."

Sources:

Archive, View Author, and Get author RSS feed. VP Harris Has Head-Scratching 'Moment' during Abortion Rally . 26 Apr. 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/04/26/vp-harris-has-head-scratching-moment-during-abortion-rally/. House, The White. "Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Political Event on Reproductive Rights." The White House , 25 Apr. 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/04/25/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-a-political-event-on-reproductive-rights/. New York Post. Kamala Harris Word Salad Speech at Pro-Abortion Rally Blasted by Critics | New York Post . 2023. YouTube , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jc-kL22fQU. TikTok - Make Your Day . https://www.tiktok.com/@politifact/video/7234564236427463979?q=kamala%20harris%20today%20is%20today%20speech&t=1721327347477. Accessed 19 July 2024. "Video of Kamala Harris Rambling Her Speech at Howard University Is Digitally Created." Reuters , 4 May 2023. www.reuters.com , https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/video-of-kamala-harris-rambling-her-speech-at-howard-university-is-digitally-cre-idUSL1N3712OM/. "Video of Kamala Harris Saying 'Today Is Today' Was Altered." AP News , 2 May 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-kamala-harris-video-altered-today-quote-234791603419. "Viral Video of Vice President Kamala Harris Saying 'Today Is Today' Is Altered." Abc10.Com , 4 May 2023, https://www.abc10.com/article/news/verify/social-media/vice-president-kamala-harris-today-is-today-video-altered-fact-check/536-ecf0511e-dc8f-4d86-b88c-eefbd08e8be0.