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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke July 31, 2024

No, this isn’t an authentic X post from Harris about Black Lives Matter

If Your Time is short

  • This is a fabricated X post.

Some critics have blamed former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, the second woman to hold the position, for the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. They called her a "diversity, equity and inclusion" hire.

But Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t post on X reacting to calls to prosecute Cheatle.

"I am DISGUSTED by @BoLoudon’s SEXIST call to prosecute our first DEI Secret Service Woman Director," reads what looks like an X post from Harris, referring to a conservative commentator and friend of Trump’s son, Barron. "Bo is a 17 year old RACIST — it’s BLACK LIVES MATTER, not ‘Biden Loves Minors!’ DO NOT follow him!’"

A July 28 Instagram post sharing an image of the purported X post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

We found no evidence that Harris posted this statement from either of her accounts, @KamalaHarris or @VP.

As we broadened our search, we  turned up articles from Wired, CNN and more about conservatives "blaming women and DEI for the Secret Service’s failure" in the assassination attempt. (PolitiFact also explored the facts after the shooting put scrutiny on the Secret Service’s women and diversity initiatives.) 

We rate claims that Harris tweeted, "It’s BLACK LIVES MATTER, not ‘Biden Loves Minors!’" False. 

 

Our Sources

Instagram post, July 28, 2024

@KamalaHarris account, visited July 29, 2024

@VP account, visited July 29, 2024

Daily Mail, Barron Trump, 18, uses his charm to schmooze conservatives, gets into mischief with friends and has his own political aspirations, May 8, 2024

X post, July 22, 2024

U.S. Secret Service, Director Kimberly A. Cheatle, visited July 29, 2024

U.S. Secret Service, Timeline of Our History, visited July 29, 2024

CNN, Right-wing media figures blame women in Secret Service and ‘DEI’ for security failure in Trump shooting, July 17, 2024

PolitiFact, Trump rally shooting put scrutiny on Secret Service women, diversity efforts. Here are the facts. July 22, 2024

Wired, The Right Is Blaming Women and DEI for the Secret Service’s Failure in Trump Shooting, July 15, 2024

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More by Ciara O'Rourke

No, this isn’t an authentic X post from Harris about Black Lives Matter

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