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Video of an old U.S. House floor speech is repackaged with false advertising
A recent Facebook post baits and switches users on a couple of counts.
"Watch Kevin McCarthy UNLEASHES on ‘C.zar’ Kamala Harris with PERFECT speech…calls her ‘step down,’" reads the descriptions of a nearly 14-minute video in a May 3 Facebook post.
It 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.)
First of all, the video in the post is more than a year old. It comes from a Nov. 18, 2021, U.S. House debate over the Build Back Better Act.
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Second, the video doesn’t show U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, R-Calif. — then the House minority leader — calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to step down. He also didn’t call her a "step down," depending on how you read the grammatically incorrect post.
He does criticize Harris, and the Biden administration, and argues for increased border protections.
But this post is inaccurate. We rate it False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, May 3, 2023
Congressional Record, BUILD BACK BETTER ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 201, Nov. 18, 2021
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Video of an old U.S. House floor speech is repackaged with false advertising
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