Clip of Kamala Harris appearing to call President Biden ‘unstable’ has been edited

A clip of Vice President Kamala Harris during a Fox News interview has been altered to suggest she said President Joe Biden was “mentally unstable”. But her remarks were actually about former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump. 

In the short clip, journalist Bret Baeir asks Ms Harris: “When did you first notice that President Biden’s mental faculties appear to be diminished?” He seems to then immediately say: “He’s misguided, you say now he’s unstable, he’s not well, you say he’s mentally not stable”, and Ms Harris says at the same time: “He’s unstable, he is unstable Bret. He’s not stable and we should all be concerned.” 

Text overlaid on top of the video, which has been shared on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), says: “Kamala on Joe Bidens mental fitness [sic]”. 

However, this clip has been edited—a question about President Biden that came later in the interview has been moved so that an exchange in which Mr Baier and Ms Harris were actually talking about Mr Trump sounds like they were talking about Joe Biden. 

The original footage and interview transcript of the interview, which took place on 17 October, shows Mr Baeir saying: “You call Donald Trump, he’s misguided, you say now he’s unstable”, to which Ms Harris remarks: “He’s unstable, he is unstable Bret. He’s not stable and we should all be concerned”.

Mr Baeir then goes on to say: “You told many interviewers that Joe Biden was on his game, that ran circles around his staff. When did you first notice that President Biden’s mental faculties appear diminished?” 

Ms Harris replies: “Joe Biden, I have watched in from the Oval Office to the Situation Room, and he has the judgement and experience to do exactly what he has done in making very important decisions on behalf of the American people.”

Full Fact has contacted the Instagram account that appears to have first shared the edited clip and will update this article if we receive a response. 

We’ve written about many examples of misinformation regarding Ms Harris in recent months, including other edited videos where her speech has been slowed down alongside claims it shows her drunk, or another that has been edited to include an impressionist’s audio. You can find more of our work checking claims relating to US politics on our website. 

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