False claims that Vice President Kamala Harris wore clip-on audio headphones disguised as pearl earrings circulated on social media following Tuesday night's presidential debate, promoted by prominent accounts on X and other platforms.
Social media users, including conspiracy theorist and far-right activist Laura Loomer, claimed that Harris's earrings were Nova H1 audio earphones, which are styled to look like pearl earrings. Loomer's post received more than 1.3 million views by Wednesday morning.
However, the earphones do not look the same as Harris's earrings. A photograph from the original product review shows the Nova H1 earphones wrap around the earlobe, whereas Harris's earrings dangle and are for pierced earlobes.
The earrings Harris wore appear to be a pair of Tiffany & Co. South Sea Pearl Earrings from the Hardwear collection. Harris has worn the gold earrings at previous events, including during an Aug. 6 rally in Pennsylvania and the White House Juneteenth concert this summer.
Earpieces are not permitted in presidential debates. In the ABC debate, candidates were not allowed to bring notes or props on stage. CBS News reached out to the Harris campaign about the claims.
Google data showed searches for "nova h1" and "nova earrings" spiked on Wednesday morning. The earrings are billed on a Kickstarter campaign as "the first clip-on earphones on the planet," and their creators say the technology is embedded in real pearls, placed on the earlobe to project sound...
On January 15, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released Fiscal Year 2024 statistics for the False Claims Act. During FY 2024, settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2....