Following a lively debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the internet and social media exploded with claims that Vice President Harris had broken the rules by donning an earpiece disguised as a pair of earrings.
The claims evoke similar reports from the 2020 presidential election that saw President Joe Biden accused of wearing an earpiece during the first of three debates between himself and former President Donald Trump after pictures and video of Biden taken during the debate appeared to show suspicious lines on his shirt that many assumed to be a wire.
High-resolution imagery made available following the event revealed this wasn't the case and the line in question was nothing more than a shirt crease. The accusations were investigated by the Reuters Fact Check team among others, and found to be false.
However, is there any truth to claims surrounding Harris and her choice of jewelry this time around? While Laptop Mag has reached out for comment on the matter, we don't believe so. Here's why.
Nova H1 Audio Earrings: What are they?
Laptop Mag first came across Nova's H1 Audio Earring at CES 2023. While they may look like any other pair of unassuming pearl earrings, the H1 Audio Earring is actually closer to a hands-free Bluetooth earpiece, offering a unique open-ear audio experience not too dissimilar to other modern wearables like the XREAL Air 2 or Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
We cheekily referred to the earrings as a cheater's dream, for their innocuous appearance and potential to be misused by crafty students. However, beyond finding them a fascinating and fun piece of tech-infused fashion, we had little reason to keep the wearables on our radar.
Little did we know that this particular Bluetooth wearable would gain a second wind at last night's presidential debate as some viewers suggested that the presidential candidate had adopted the H1 Audio Earrings for some external support during the verbal back-and-forth.
Are these the same earrings worn by Kamala Harris?
While Laptop Mag doesn't typically inject itself into the world of political fact-checking, a recent surge in readers to our original article on the Nova H1 Audio Earrings has posed an interesting question: Did Vice President Kamala Harris wear a pair of the Nova H1 Audio Earrings during last night's presidential debate?
Claims that presidential candidate Harris donned a pair of Nova's H1 Audio Earrings during her televised debate with former President Donald Trump quickly spread across social media following the pair's closing statements.
One X user, sharing a pair of images that place the Nova H1 Audio Earrings side-by-side with a screen capture of Harris during the debate, highlights the rapidly circulating claims, stating "Rumors are circulating that Kamala Harris was wearing audio earrings and being fed lines." Before posing the question: "Isn't this against the debate rules?"
Rumors are circulating that Kamala Harris was wearing audio earrings and being fed lines.Isn't this against the debate rules? pic.twitter.com/3sRTvp20DWSeptember 11, 2024
According to ABC News' rules for the September 10 presidential debate, both candidates were expected to "stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate and no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage," which would suggest the forbidding of earpieces.
Further clarifying rules surrounding communication surrounding the event, ABC News stated that "Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks."
This would suggest that any communication other than that between candidates and the moderators is forbidden, and would place Harris in hot water if these claims were proven to be true. However, can they be?
Harris has a long history of wearing pearls, so it isn't too difficult to track down images of the Vice President donning the same pair of earrings at a previous event.
High-resolution pictures of Harris, taken while delivering remarks to NCAA championship teams (see above), taken earlier this year show her wearing the same earrings as seen during last night's debate, which can clearly be identified as not a pair of the clip-on Nova H1 Audio Earrings.
While it's possible to claim that the earrings may have been modified, with the Nova H1's frame being swapped out, it's this part of the device that houses the electronics, which would leave only the pearl behind.
The actual earrings worn by Vice President Kamala Harris during her presidential debate are 18K gold South Sea Pearl Earrings, formally available as part of the Tiffany Hardwear collection (see below).
Outlook
Once again, thanks to higher-resolution imagery, claims of a Democratic candidate donning an earpiece for a debate are proved to be misleading.
While this claim is easy enough to clarify, it's a solid reminder of staying vigilant in the face of bold claims based on low-quality imagery — or even high-quality imagery in an age of generative AI where deepfake images are so easy to create.
