Fact Check: Did Kamala Harris call for lowering US voting age to 16?
WASHINGTON, DC: Former Vice President Kamala Harris has often been away from the limelight since she lost the 2024 Presidential election against Donald Trump. She made a few appearances this year as she launched her new book '107 Days'.
Recently, a rumor circulated online claiming that the former Vice President had called for the voting age in the US to be lowered from 18 to 16. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.
Claim: Kamala Harris called for lowering US voting age to 16
In November 2025, a rumor spread online that Kamala Harris had called for the voting age in the United States to be lowered from 18 to 16.
An X user posted a meme featuring a photo of Harris smiling and a separate picture of young people, one of whom was holding up a "vote" sign. The texts in the post read, "FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS ADVOCATES FOR LOWERING THE VOTING AGE TO 16 IN AMERICA".
The rumor circulated across different X profiles and also made it to Facebook and Instagram.
The caption of a Facebook post read, "Kamala Harris recently shared that she believes 16 year olds should be allowed to vote...saying young people care deeply about issues that shape their future. She explained that many teenagers already work, pay taxes and stay informed about politics."
Meanwhile, the caption of the Instagram post mentioned, "In an interview on The Diary Of A CEO YouTube channel, Kamala Harris said she believes the voting age should be lowered to 16. She explained that Gen Z — roughly ages 13 to 27 — has grown up dealing with the reality of climate change."
True: Kamala Harris made the statement during an interview
The claims made in the online rumor are true, as Kamala Harris proposed the idea during an interview on 'The Diary of a CEO' podcast in an episode released on October 30, 2025.
Interestingly, she joined a growing number of world leaders who have advocated for allowing younger teenagers to vote.
During the podcast with British entrepreneur and investor Steven Bartlett, Harris argued that elected officials should work for "the greater good" and suggested that leaders need to focus on "being a bit more bold."
She added that an example would be reducing the voting age in the United States to 16.
Harris also stated that "Gen Z" people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s should be invested in "because they know everything that's happening right now is going to impact them more than anybody older than them."
Kamala Harris says Gen Z is going to impact 'our nation and the world'
During the interview, Kamala Harris talked about Gen Z and said, "They missed substantial parts of their education because of the pandemic. If they're in high school or college, especially in college, it is very likely that whatever they've chosen as their major for study may not result in an affordable wage."
"They've coined the term "climate anxiety" to describe fear of — not only being able to buy a home — but that fear it'll be wiped out by extreme weather, but fear of having children," she added.
Harris further mentioned that Gen Z is a specific generation of people "who are going to impact our nation and the world" and she believes "we must invest in them".
"If they were able to vote — because they know everything that's happening right now is going to impact them more than anybody older than them, for the most part, in terms of how these systems work — if they're voting right now, at 16 and up, they're going to be talking about the importance of climate, they're going to be talking about the importance of figuring out how AI is going to affect the future of the workforce," Harris mentioned.
