Fact check: Are viral photos claiming Kamala Harris worked as an escort real?
WASHINGTON, DC: A Facebook post, shared on August 7, contains two images of Vice President Kamala Harris in revealing attire, insinuating she once worked as an escort.
"Just so everyone knows how she got her start.....DNC must be proud," reads the caption of the post, which received 24,000 shares within three weeks.
A caption of a similar post from X (formerly Twitter) implied that staffers in San Francisco had disclosed that the vice president previously worked as "an escort for judges, politicians, and various powerful businessmen to sway court cases and help push leftist policies in the state." It further claimed, "Democrats are trying to bury the allegations!"
Did Kamala Harris work as an escort?
As reported by USA Today, these claims are false and the photos have been identified as AI-generated with no credible evidence supporting the allegations.
Despite the inability to find an authentic source for the photographs, an expert suggested that the pictures were of low quality and did not depict Harris.
Taking these factors into account, along with several additional points detailed subsequently, the photographs and their accompanying assertions have been deemed false, fact-checking website Snopes reported.
Experts identify AI red flags in photos alleging Kamala Harris worked as an escort
Several indicators suggest that the images of Kamala Harris were likely created by AI. In the left image (present in the Facebook post), one of her fingers is conspicuously thinner than the rest, and the car in the background lacks tail lights. In the right image, Harris' arm seems to bend unnaturally into her body.
Walter Scheirer, a University of Notre Dame professor specializing in visual disinformation, informed USA Today that the visual discrepancies align with those typically found in AI-generated images. Additionally, he pointed out the image's absence of credible sourcing.
"Provenance is important to consider," said Scheirer, adding, "This post was not made from a trusted professional news source. It is a partisan political attack from a user of Facebook. Kamala Harris is a major public figure who is widely reported on. If something this sensational were true, we would have heard about it in the news a long time ago."
The digital footprint of these images indicates they are of recent origin. TinEye, a reverse image search engine, reveals that the earliest version of the photos appeared on August 10. Had the photos been authentic, they would likely have appeared well before that.
False and misleading claims about Harris have proliferated since she announced her presidential campaign, with many focusing on her race and gender.
