Conspiracy theorists are claiming Vice President Kamala Harris wore pearl earrings with secret built-in speakers to cheat during last night’s debate with former President Donald Trump.
The unfounded allegation was especially popular among followers of QAnon, the long-running conspiracy theory that claims Trump is secretly working with a team of government insiders to eradicate a global pedophile ring run by baby-eating Democrats.
Popular QAnon promoter Jordan Sather was one of numerous far-right figures to suggest that Harris’ pearl earrings resembled audio earrings with embedded earphones.
“Is that an earphone pearl?” Sather questioned.
Despite the two pairs of earrings being visibly different, conspiracy theorists were convinced that Harris’ choice to wear pearls was evidence enough of nefarious activity.
“She had the questions in advance so she could prepare,” one X user claimed.
“I suspected she had an earpiece at about the 15 minute mark,” another added, seeming to reference her slow start.
Ron Watkins, a former admin on the imageboard 8chan where QAnon took off, likewise suggested that Harris was deceiving the public.
“Looks clear to me,” Watkins said in response to Sather’s question. “They cheat at every opportunity.”
The conspiracy theory was further amplified by InfoWars’ Alex Jones, who asked his more than 2.7 million followers on X to weigh in.
“Look at these Earpieces that look like earrings,” Jones wrote. “Looks a lot like what Cackling Kamala was wearing. What do you think?”
Others argued that Harris had clearly broken the debate’s rules by wearing the earrings, despite no evidence that secret speakers were inside the vice president’s ears.
“Rumors are circulating that Kamala Harris was wearing audio earrings and being fed lines,” QAnon promoter TaraBull said. “Isn’t this against the debate rules?”
Laura Loomer, who traveled on Trump’s plane with him to the debate, also hyped the claim.
However, numerous pictures of Harris wearing the same pearl earrings at different events indicate that they are from the jewelry company Tiffany & Co.
Nevertheless, conspiracy theorists appear unwilling to let go of the false claim.
The accusations against Harris regarding hidden speakers are far from the first. For years, right-wing conspiracy theorists have accused just about every Democratic presidential candidate of using technology to cheat at debates.
In 2020, a similar conspiracy theory even led Trump’s campaign to demand an inspection of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s ears prior to a debate after conservatives suggested he would be wearing a secret flesh-colored earpiece.
Biden was also accused after the first debate in October of that year of having a wire hidden under his clothes, although it was merely a crease in his suit.
And in 2016, conspiracy theorists thought then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hid wire and had a secret earpiece during her debate with Trump.
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