Modified Campaign Video of US Vice-President Shared by Tesla CEO Surpasses 128 Million Views

Kamala Harris's election team has accused Elon Musk of promoting "fabricated falsehoods" after the Tesla CEO reposted an altered video featuring the vice-president on his X platform.

On Friday night, Musk shared a distorted version of a Harris campaign video where a falsified voiceover claimed: “I was chosen because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” and labelled any criticism of her as “both sexist and racist.”

The manipulated clip has amassed 128 million views after Musk shared it with the caption “this is amazing” followed by a laughing emoji. Notably, Musk is the owner of X, the social media platform he rebranded from Twitter last year.

Amy Klobuchar, a Senator from the Democratic Party, criticized Musk for violating X’s policies. X’s guidelines prohibit users from sharing “synthetic, manipulated, or misleading content” that could potentially deceive or confuse viewers and cause harm. Although exceptions exist for satirical content, such posts cannot “create significant doubt regarding the truthfulness of the media.”

Responding through the Associated Press, a representative from Harris’s presidential campaign stated: “The American public seeks the genuine liberty, opportunities, and protection that Vice President Harris stands for, not the fake, manipulated lies spread by Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”

The original video appeared on the @MrReaganUSA account, known to be affiliated with conservative YouTuber and podcaster Chris Kohls. It was labeled a parody.

Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY pic.twitter.com/5lBxvyTZ3o

However, Musk, who has previously endorsed Donald Trump, did not expressly clarify that the clip was parody when he reshared it.

California’s Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, weighed in on the situation via a post on X Sunday evening, suggesting that such altered videos should be made “illegal.” He referred to a proposal currently backed by California legislators aiming to outlaw “materially deceptive” election deepfakes.

In response, Musk wrote, “parody is legal in America,” further including the original @MrReaganUSA video below his comment.

Speaking to the Associated Press, a deepfake expert commented on the potency of generative AI and deepfakes, as demonstrated by the Harris clip.

“The AI-created voice is incredibly convincing,” said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “While most people may recognize it's not Harris's true voice, the video becomes even more impactful because the words are presented in her voice.”