Following a debate that has been held widely criticized as disastrousFormer President Donald Trump and his supporters have sought to justify the soiree by posting conspiracies about a “rigged” event, deeply misogynistic attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris and wild claims about the vice president’s earrings.
Within minutes of the debate ending, a new conspiracy about X emerged, centered not on the content of what was said but on the earrings Harris was wearing.
“It appears Kamala Harris was receiving instructions via the use of headphones embedded in her earrings during the ABC presidential debate against President Trump,” a pro-Trump disinformation account with more than half a million followers posted on X. Another prominent pro-Trump account also shared the conspiracy while the debate was still underway, and that post has been viewed more than 5 million times.
The claim is based on the fact that the earrings Harris was wearing look somewhat similar to a pair of so-called “audio earrings” that were sold on Kickstarter last year. “NOVA H1 Audio Earrings – The first and only wireless earbuds built into a pair of pearl earrings,” the product description reads.
This conspiracy quickly gained traction among Trump supporters on Tuesday night, who sought to excuse his poor performance. Numerous pro-Trump clickbait accounts on X and other supporters shared the conspiracy, including Laura Loomer, a failed congressional candidate from Florida and Trump acolyte who traveled with the former president to the debate.
Throughout the debate, Harris deftly attacked Trump’s weak points — the size of the crowds at his rallies, his inherited wealth — and the former president reacted angrily, lashing out with nonsensical answers and outright lies.
Trump’s responses were filled with misinformation, including lies about abortion, the election, and the Capitol riots. He even resorted to promoting the false conspiracy about Haitian illegal immigrants eating pets of people in Springfield, Ohio.
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people who live there,” Trump said, repeating a baseless conspiracy theory that has been trending on social media platforms like X in recent days and promoted by vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance.
This claim and many others were quickly fact-checked and debunked by ABC News anchors and debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, a fact that clearly further infuriated Trump.
Almost immediately after the debate ended, Trump reiterated the theory that the debate had been “rigged” by ABC News and that he himself has been promoting for the past week.
“I think that was my best debate, EVER, especially since it was THREE ON ONE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, where he attempted to defend his claim about immigrants eating pets by sharing links to unsubstantiated rumors.
Leading Trump supporters echoed this line of attack. “Strange that the hack moderators at (ABC News) only ‘fact check’ Trump and allow Kamala to lie non-stop,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X. “Fake News is the enemy of the people!”