Presidential debate: Did Kamala Harris or Donald Trump win?
While the last debate saw President Joe Biden thrown off the Democratic ticket, this debate could make Harris or Trump the winner of the White House.
The claim: Kamala Harris wore “audio earrings” during the presidential debate
A Facebook post from September 10 (direct link, archive link) shows side-by-side photos, one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ left ear during the presidential debate and another of a pair of earrings that double as wireless communication devices.
“Nova audio earrings. She was coached, now we know,” says the caption on the image.
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in one day. A similar version of the claim was reposted tens of thousands of times on X, formerly Twitter.
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Our rating: False
There is no credible evidence that Harris’ earrings contained audio transmitters, which would have violated rules prohibiting interactions with people offstage during the debate. Photos from the debate show that her earrings do not match the Nova model mentioned in the post.
No evidence that Harris’ earrings contained wireless earbuds
For more than 90 minutes, Harris and former President Donald Trump traded barbs, claims and policy proposals in their first presidential debate of the election season on September 10.
But the claim in the Facebook post is baseless. There is no credible evidence that Harris’ jewelry during the debate contained audio transmitters that could have been used to “coach” her, as the post claims.
Fact check on the presidential debate: Analysis of Trump and Harris on abortion, immigration and more
The earrings she wore on the debate stage were large pearls with two gold stems that curved behind her earlobes in the shape of a “J.” A website run by journalists that tracks the vice president’s clothing choices identifies them as a discontinued Tiffany & Co. model. In fact, the earrings bear a strong resemblance to earrings from Tiffany & Co.’s HardWear jewelry line, although the pearls in Harris’ earrings are significantly larger than those pictured on the jeweler’s website.
“Last night, a bizarre story circulated claiming the Vice President was wearing earrings with an audio receiver,” Susan Kelley wrote for her website What Kamala Wore. “I can confidently say that is clearly not the case; they are the same Tiffany earrings she has been wearing for months.”
Harris was photographed wearing similar earrings several times before the debate – even at events where the use of such technology would not provide a clear advantage.
Additionally, the electronic earrings shown in the post do not match those seen in high-resolution photos of Harris during the debate. The Nova H1 audio earrings made by German company Icebach Sound Solutions — which reportedly have built-in wireless transmitters — have individual stems. The hinge that bends around each earlobe has a smaller radius than those visible in Harris’ photos.
Additionally, it’s unclear if anyone actually owns a pair of these earrings, which aren’t available for purchase on Icebach’s website. Company founder and CEO Malte Iversen told USA TODAY the earrings are out of stock and the company is looking for investors to “scal up operations accordingly.” Icebach acquired Nova’s intellectual property after the company went bankrupt in 2023, but didn’t receive any money from Nova’s Kickstarter investors, he said. Nova hasn’t updated its Kickstarter page or Instagram account since May 2023.
In what appears to be a somewhat beside the point response to the increased attention, Icebach updated his website to include an advertisement for his “Special Edition on the Presidential Debates – Coming Soon to All.”
Using an earpiece to communicate with anyone during the debate would have been a blatant violation of rules prohibiting interaction with campaign staff during commercial breaks.
The claim echoes false claims USA TODAY debunked in 2020 that President Joe Biden wore an earpiece at a town hall meeting and a listening device at a presidential debate ahead of that year’s election.
The Harris campaign declined to provide an official response to a USA TODAY request for comment. USA TODAY reached out to a Tiffany spokesperson and the Facebook user who shared the post, but did not receive an immediate response.
Our fact-checking sources:
- Malte Iversen, September 11, email exchange with USA TODAY
- ABC News (YouTube), September 10, DEBATE REPLAY: Vice President Harris and former President Trump l ABC News Presidential Debate
- ABC News, September 11: Kamala Harris reminds Americans at ABC News debate that she owns a gun
- Tiffany & Co., accessed September 11, Sterling silver double pearl hinged earrings
- Getty Images, July 22, Vice President Harris delivers a speech honoring the NCAA championship teams
- Getty Images, July 22, Vice President Harris delivers a speech honoring the NCAA championship teams
- Getty Images, September 10, US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEBATE-HARRIS-TRUMP
- Getty Images, September 10, ABC News hosts presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia
- What Kamala wore, accessed September 11, Tiffany Hardwear pearl earrings and necklace
- The Daily Beast, July 23, The Secret Reason Team Trump Is Afraid of Kamala Harris
- Icebach Sound Solutions, accessed on 11 September, Products
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