Fact Check: Was Kamala Harris' new book 'pulled' over 30% plagiarized content?

WASHINGTON, DC: In October 2024, former vice president Kamala Harris faced plagiarism accusations as multiple sections of her 2009 book 'Smart on Crime' were reportedly similar or identical to content from other published works.

Recently, a new post claiming that Kamala Harris' new book was "pulled" back from shelves for being 30% plagiarized has been doing the rounds online. But is there any truth to it? Let us find out below. 

Claim: Kamala Harris' new book 'pulled' over 30% plagiarized content

In May 2025, an X user @Gitmo99 posted on X (formerly Twitter), "Kamala Harris' new book pulled after it's found to be 30% plagiarized."

The viral post had a picture of Harris attached to it along with texts that read, "Lmao! Kamala Harris' new book gets pulled after it is found to be 30% plagiarized."

The post has so far garnered more than 300,000 views, and around 1,500 people reacted to the viral claim. Another 4,900 people reshared the rumor on X.

Another user called @liveXclique shared the same post and added, "I bet Kamala purposely failed to mention the bad parts of Joe Biden's cognitive mental decline."

Fact check: No credible evidence to back claim about Kamala Harris' book

The claims made in the viral post are false, as there is no credible evidence to prove that Kamala Harris' new book was "pulled" from shelves over plagiarism.

A search on Google and Bing with the keywords "Kamala Harris new book 2025" showed no such result that any new book was released by the former VP recently, or it was pulled for plagiarism.

Moreover, no credible news outlet covered any such news that would make the claim believable. The X users who shared the rumor also did not attach any link or sources to back their claims.

Kamala Harris' recent books titled 'The Truths We Hold: An American Journey' and 'Superheroes Are Everywhere', which were released in 2019, are available on Amazon and have not been pulled for plagiarism.

Kamala Harris faces plagiarism allegations over 2009 book 

Kamala Harris' only book that faced plagiarism accusations was the 2009's 'Smart on Crime'.

Harris wrote the book in 2009 while serving as San Francisco's district attorney. The book promoted a reform-driven approach to crime prosecution with the help of ghostwriter Joan O’C Hamilton.

In October 2024, conservative activist Christopher Rufo made allegations, linking them to an investigation by Austrian "plagiarism hunter" Stefan Weber.

He shared screenshots on X and highlighted five instances where the book's wording closely resembled that of other sources.

Interestingly, the five passages presented side-by-side suggested that Harris might have used language from a 2008 Associated Press article, a Wikipedia entry from the same year, a 2000 Bureau of Justice Assistance report, a 2004 Urban Institute report, and a 2007 John Jay College of Criminal Justice press release, the New York Post reported.

Meanwhile, in two cases, the sources of the original wording are acknowledged in footnotes, but without quotation marks enclosing the seemingly borrowed phrases.

Moreover, as with the Urban Institute report, the passages seem to be completely unattributed.