Kamala Harris’ ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ spot was taped before her presidential run

Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign soon after President Joe Biden announced July 21 that he would withdraw from the race and endorse Harris’ candidacy.

Harris and her campaign sprang into action, working the phones to secure Democratic support for her nomination, reporting by The New York Times showed. She held a staff meeting July 22 at the Biden-Harris campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. And on July 23, Harris appeared before a crowd of thousands in Milwaukee.

But Libs of TikTok told its millions of followers July 25 on X  that Harris chose a different avenue to start her campaign.

"Kamala just launched her presidential campaign on RuPaul's Drag Race," the conservative social media account wrote in a post that shared a video of a child dancing with adults on a stage.

Libs of TikTok shared a similar post the same day on Facebook, although an attached video shows a different child dancing on a stage and collecting what looks like money from people in the audience. Neither post shows Harris.

We saw similar claims elsewhere.

On July 26, Harris appeared on the Season 9 finale of "RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars," a reality competition show airing on MTV. But several media outlets reported the segment was recorded before Biden withdrew from the race. The show on July 23 posted on its YouTube channel a video previewing Harris’ spot.

Spokespeople for Paramount, which owns MTV, did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for a timeline.

In her "RuPaul’s Drag Race" show appearance, Harris encouraged viewers to register to vote.

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"Each day, we are seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the right of everyone to be who they are, love who they love: openly and with pride," Harris said. "We are all in this together and your vote is your power. So, please make sure your voice is heard this November and registered to vote at Vote.gov."

The minute-long appearance also featured comedian and actor Leslie Jones, choreographer Jamal Sims and singer Michelle Visage, who is also a judge on the show. Harris did not mention campaigning for president.

A close look at the signs in the posts’ videos revealed the event captured was RuPaul’s DragCon 2022, which ran in May 2022 in Los Angeles. We searched Nexis news archives and found no news reports about the vice president attending DragCon — in 2022 or any other year. Harris’ schedule showed she did not attend DragCon 2024 which was held July 19 and July 20 in Los Angeles. She held internal meetings on July 19 and on July 20, she traveled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for a campaign fundraiser, a day before Biden announced his decision, her schedule shows.

We rate the claim Harris "launched" her campaign on "RuPaul’s Drag Race" False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.