No, social media videos do not show Kamala Harris intoxicated at public events

Vice President Kamala Harris’ critics on social media have long shared video clips of the Democratic presidential nominee speaking and insinuating she may be drunk or high.

Many of the social media posts shared clips of Harris’ comments that have gone viral and said they show Harris was drunk — such as when Harris described her mother asking, "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?"

Two social media posts shared recently claim to show Harris was intoxicated at public events. One is from the Democratic National Convention’s first night. The other is from a March visit by Harris to Madison, Wisconsin.

The first post shared a video of Harris remaining seated on the first night of the DNC in Chicago as those around her stood and applauded.

"Kamala Harris appears to be too intoxicated to stand up. This is getting bad," the Aug. 19 X post said.

An Aug. 18 Instagram post shared a video of Harris speaking in Madison with text that said, "BREAKING: Multiple police officers have come forward stating that Kamala is 100% intoxicated in this clip and she would’ve been charged with a DUI if she had been behind the wheel of a car."

PolitiFact has examined similar claims before about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whom critics often accused of being drunk at public events — even though she doesn’t drink alcohol.

We decided to look closer at these two videos to see whether there’s any evidence to back the claims Harris was drunk at these events.

In the shortened DNC video clip shared on X, Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s daughter, spoke before introducing her father. Ashley Biden praised Harris, who was sitting, and said, "She will beat Donald Trump again."

The camera showed a smiling Harris sitting in the audience. Harris stayed seated, patted her chest and mouthed "thank you" as those around her, including running mate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., stood and applauded for her.

A PBS video of her speech, seen below, shows Ashley Biden praising Harris shortly before introducing her father, saying, "In 2020, my dad selected Kamala Harris to beat Donald Trump. And he knows, in 2024, she will beat Donald Trump again."

Harris remained seated as the crowd cheered. But, minutes later, another video shows Harris stood and cheered as Joe Biden took the stage. After Biden’s speech, Harris walked onstage to greet him.

Does sitting while others stood mean Harris was too drunk to stand? No. It’s not unusual for someone who is being applauded to remain seated, and the cheers were for Harris. 

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stated on October 27, 2024 in an Instagram post

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz “says that if Democrats win they’ll make (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) speaker of the house.”

The full video of the DNC’s first night, as you’ll see in the clips below, shows Harris standing to applaud others several times.

About three hours into the video, Harris appeared onstage briefly to greet the crowd and praise Joe Biden. She stood steadily and did not appear to stumble or slurring her words.

Later in the evening, Harris again stood and applauded as Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., praised Joe Biden.

Harris again stood and applauded as former first lady Jill Biden took the stage.

The second video we’re examining is from Harris’ visit in March to Madison, Wisconsin, where she promoted a Biden executive order aimed at expanding apprenticeship programs and union jobs.

In the Aug. 18 Instagram video, Harris discusses democracy as ominous music plays in the background. Text above the video said police officers had determined that Harris was intoxicated. We traced the video to an X account with more than 311,000 followers, where it had been viewed 11 million times, according to X.

Neither post shared any evidence that police officers have "come forward" to say that Harris was intoxicated. 

The same X account, run by a self-described Trump supporter, shared another video that claimed Pelosi dropped a bag of cocaine onstage Aug. 21 at the DNC. It appeared to be a piece of paper that fell.

In searching Google and the Nexis news database, we found no legitimate news stories about police officers making the Harris-was-intoxicated claim.

The full video, which was from remarks Harris gave to Biden-Harris campaign workers in Madison, is below. Harris first appears at the 6:17 mark; the part seen in the Instagram video begins at the 12:40 mark.

Harris’ visit was widely covered by local media outlets, none of which mentioned that Harris seemed intoxicated. 

According to a press pool report, Harris arrived at about 11:30 a.m. CDT at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison and headed to the future Madison Metro Transit Facility site, where she spoke. She then visited her childhood home in Madison, where she lived from age 3 to age 5,  before stopping at the Wisconsin Democrats’ headquarters, where she spoke to campaign workers. 

Two social media posts claimed Harris was intoxicated at public events. One said she was too drunk to stand on the DNC’s first night. Another said without evidence that police officers came forward to say Harris was intoxicated at a visit to Madison, Wisconsin, in March.

While acknowledging that we would have no way to know Harris’ blood alcohol level in either instance, we found no evidence to support the claims. They are False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.