Claim:
A video authentically showed Kamala Harris losing her temper at the 23rd 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York and saying: "I'm not f***ing staying for this."
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
On Sept. 11, 2024, a YouTuber named Life with Recklezz posted a video ( archived ) displaying the title: "Kamala Harris LOSES TEMPER & LEFT 9/11 Ceremony EARLY After Crowd Chants WE NEED YOU TRUMP." The thumbnail image displayed with the video claimed Harris said: "I'm not f***ing staying for this."
The user's video title and thumbnail claimed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris lost her temper during the reading of victims' names at the 23rd 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York. Life with Recklezz, who had more than 434,000 subscribers as of this writing, also singled out Harris as if she, uniquely, left early. Within four days, the video had amassed more than 910,000 views.
The YouTube user Life with Recklezz published the video with this misleading clickbait thumbnail image.
However, the claims made in the YouTube video's title and thumbnail were false. Life with Recklezz did not present any credible evidence of Harris losing her temper while observing the reading of victims' names at the ceremony, uniquely leaving early, or making the crude remark. Instead, he merely showed a 4-second video from a post ( archived ) on X, in which both President Joe Biden and Harris appeared reverent as they began to depart the grounds to attend other planned 9/11-related events.
Checking the Full C-SPAN Video
A full examination of the more than 4-hour ceremony video broadcast by C-SPAN showed former President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, appearing similarly reverent for the victims of the tragedies that took place as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 .
In the C-SPAN video, Biden, Harris, Trump and Vance all first appeared at around 8:34 a.m. EDT, or around the 0:04:30 mark in the video. At that moment, Harris and Trump shook hands, hours after participating in their live presidential debate . Seconds later, an unidentified woman repeatedly yelled, off-camera, in support of Trump: "Donald!" At the 0:04:54 mark in the clip, another person responded to the woman: "Shut up."
During the ceremony, a woman named Gabrielle Gabrielli read several victims' names. She identified herself as the goddaughter of Richard S. Gabrielle, who died on 9/11 and had worked on the 103rd floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. Ms. Gabrielli said at the podium: "I know a lot of us are feeling very strong emotions and it's a political time. This is not about politics. Thank you for having this service for our beloved family members."
Over one hour after C-SPAN first showed all four candidates, at around 9:38 a.m., Biden and Harris began walking away from the ceremony. The aforementioned 4-second video from the X post showed the beginning of their departure.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance appeared to last be displayed in the C-SPAN video at around 9:59 a.m., at the 1:29:27 mark in the clip. At that moment, the alphabetical reading of victims' names had only reached last names ending in the letter "G." The name-reading ceremony then continued for another 167 minutes.
In other words, Biden, Harris, Trump and Vance all left early. They departed long before the ceremony ended but each stood and observed the proceedings for over an hour. All four candidates then took part in other activities surrounding the day of remembrance.
At no point during the C-SPAN video was Harris seen losing her temper or heard saying, "I'm not f***ing staying for this," as claimed by Life with Recklezz.
Candidates Left to Attend Other 9/11-related Events
Near the end of Life with Recklezz's video — a clip making numerous additional claims outside of its principal claim in the title — he read a post from Trump attorney Alina Habba, who misleadingly said ( archived ) of Biden and Harris leaving the New York ceremony: " Always pressed for time when it comes to honoring our fallen heroes. Disgraceful." Habba appeared to capture the clip herself, seeing as she posted other videos recorded near Trump on the same day.
However, what both the YouTube user and Habba failed to responsibly convey to viewers and readers was the fact Biden and Harris left to attend to other 9/11-related remembrance events. Just to name a few, Biden and Harris took part in wreath-laying ceremonies at the two other sites of plane crashes occurring on Sept. 11 — both at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the site of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Trump also visited Shanksville to pay respects at the same memorial and to visit a local fire station.
Life with Recklezz' Misinformation-filled YouTube Channel
In recent days, Life with Recklezz posted a false video claiming CNN anchor Dana Bash lost her job . He also created a video falsely claiming ABC News anchor Linsey Davis — who moderated the Sept. 10 U.S. presidential debate alongside her ABC colleague, anchor David Muir — had also lost her job . Many other videos also presented titles displaying either false or unfounded rumors.
A screenshot shows a recent sampling of the misleading videos promoted by Life with Recklezz on YouTube.
In an Instagram story published on Sept. 13, @lifewithrecklezz displayed his channel's stats from the YouTube Studio mobile app. Those metrics showed a rapidly-growing, misinformation-promoting channel with nearly 10 million views in the previous 28 days. He also obscured the advertising revenue figure he earned from his videos.
An Instagram story from @lifewithrecklezz showed the user referring to the massive numbers of people he misinformed.
The majority of Life with Recklezz's videos lasted longer than eight minutes, with advertising enabled. YouTube videos extending longer than eight minutes are eligible for ads to appear during clips — known as mid-roll ad breaks — as opposed to ads only appearing at the beginning or end of videos.
We contacted Life with Recklezz to ask about the video falsely claiming Davis lost her job with ABC News. We also inquired about his purported research process for the video about Harris supposedly losing her temper. Finally, we asked him about what he sees his responsibility to be, seeing as he's a YouTuber creating content about news and politics — content receiving nearly 10 million views in the previous 28 days. We did not receive a response within several hours but will update this story if he sends answers our way.
Sources:
"9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in New York City." C-SPAN , 11 Sept. 2024, https://www.c-span.org/video/?538246-1/911-remembrance-ceremony-york-city .
Bergen, Peter L. "September 11 Attacks." Brittanica.com , https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks .
"LIVE: 9/11 Memorial Ceremony at the World Trade Center Site in New York." YouTube , The Associated Press, 11 Sept. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPQ7EeNO2M0 .
"Names on the 9/11 Memorial." 9/11 Memorial & Museum , https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/names-911-memorial .
Peltz, Jennifer, and Karen Matthews. "9/11 Anniversary Brings Biden, Harris and Trump Together at Ground Zero." The Associated Press , 11 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/911-attacks-anniversary-2024-52ddad8ed7f62e155644f0ae6eda96ec .
Shalal, Andrea, and Nandita Bose. "Biden, Harris and Trump Visit Sept. 11 Sites to Mark 2001 Attacks." Reuters , 11 Sept. 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-harris-visit-sept-11-sites-white-house-vows-never-again-2024-09-11/ .
"The Latest: Harris and Trump Attend 9/11 Remembrance Ceremonies as Debate Reaction Rolls In." The Associated Press , 11 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-debate-election-9683d23dc4d0ec143f70dc64870be8c3 .
Zahn, Brian. "With No Grave to Visit, Family of West Haven 9/11 Victim Copes in Different Ways." New Haven Register , 8 Sept. 2021, https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/I-talk-to-him-every-day-West-Haven-man-s-16429265.php .
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