False claims that Vice President Kamala Harris wore clip-on audio headphones disguised as pearl earrings circulated on social media following Tuesday night’s presidential debate, promoted by prominent accounts on X and other platforms.
Social media users, including conspiracy theorist and far-right activist Laura Loomer, claimed that Harris’s earrings were Nova H1 audio earphones, which are styled to look like pearl earrings. Loomer’s post received more than 1.3 million views by Wednesday morning.
However, the earphones do not look the same as Harris’s earrings. A photograph from the original product review shows the Nova H1 earphones wrap around the earlobe, whereas Harris’s earrings dangle and are for pierced earlobes.
The earrings Harris wore appear to be a pair of Tiffany & Co. South Sea Pearl Earrings from the Hardwear collection. Harris has worn the gold earrings at previous events, including during an Aug. 6 rally in Pennsylvania and the White House Juneteenth concert this summer.
Earpieces are not permitted in presidential debates. In the ABC debate, candidates were not allowed to bring notes or props on stage. CBS News reached out to the Harris campaign about the claims.
Google data showed searches for “nova h1” and “nova earrings” spiked on Wednesday morning. The earrings are billed on a Kickstarter campaign as “the first clip-on earphones on the planet,” and their creators say the technology is embedded in real pearls, placed on the earlobe to project sound into the ear canal with integrated high-end microphones.
A history of earpiece claims
The claim that Trump’s opponent was wearing an earpiece has been repeated after several presidential debates. Social media users claimed, without evidence, that President Biden was wearing an earpiece when he debated Trump in the NBC presidential debate in June.
In 2020, Trump’s campaign ran Facebook ads accusing Mr. Biden of wearing an earpiece during the Sept. 2020 debate, and the claims were also widely shared on social media. The Biden campaign rejected the claims, and high quality images from the debate showed the alleged wires were likely creases in his clothing and a watch or rosary.
In 2016, the conspiracy website True Pundit and others falsely claimed Hillary Clinton was wearing an earpiece to get “stealth communications” during an NBC News forum. Fact checkers found these claims to be false.
The claims are not necessarily limited to right-wing conspiracies. In 2004, the internet was rife with rumors that a rectangular bulge between then-President George W. Bush’s shoulder was a radio receiver to strategist Karl Rove. A campaign spokesperson told The New York Times later that it was “most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric.”