It looks like Kamala Harris might have just been caught in yet another staged moment. During a recent phone banking event at the Democratic Party’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, Harris appeared to be enthusiastically chatting with voters to encourage turnout. But things took an awkward turn when Harris, in what looked like an attempt to show her excitement to the crowd, pointed her phone toward them. The problem? Observers quickly noticed that her phone screen was showing her camera app—not a call screen.
????#BREAKING: Watch as Kamala Harris makes calls at a phone bank just hours before polls close in Washington, D.C. Moments later, the camera captures her phone screen with only the camera app open, showing no active call screen pic.twitter.com/Bu7Pk5gpAb
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 5, 2024
Sky News reported on Harris’s “surprise” appearance at the event, noting that she stopped by to pump up volunteers making calls to voters across the country. But rather than a sincere moment of connecting with voters, it seems Harris was performing for the cameras. Her apparent “call” has sparked skepticism online, with viewers questioning whether she was really talking to voters or simply pretending to for the photo op. The video has since circulated widely, fueling the perception that Harris was, once again, “caught acting.”
This isn’t the first time Harris has raised eyebrows with what some would call less-than-genuine behavior. From her notoriously awkward laughter during interviews to her tendency to over-emphasize moments of supposed spontaneity, critics argue that Harris often seems more focused on creating “moments” than genuine connection. And this phone-banking mishap plays right into that narrative. While she did reportedly speak with some real voters, including a mother and her eight-year-old child, the camera slip-up overshadowed what could have been a straightforward campaign event.
Harris’s team has yet to respond to the incident, but it’s not hard to imagine the optics this creates, especially with Election Day around the corner. The image of Harris seemingly “pretending” to make calls, whether intentional or not, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Instead, it feeds a perception that she is more focused on appearances than on the hard work of connecting with voters—a perception that has dogged her throughout her time in office.
Whether this was an honest mistake or an attempt at staged enthusiasm, the moment has already left an impression, and not the one Harris’s team was hoping for. Instead of highlighting Democratic voter engagement efforts, this mishap has turned into another PR stumble for Harris.
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