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Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign reacted on Saturday to tech billionaire Elon Musk sharing a fake ad about the presumptive Democratic nominee on social media earlier this week.

President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last Sunday and endorsed Harris following weeks of interparty fighting among Democrats on whether he should pass the torch to the next generation after his widely criticized debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month.

On Friday night, Musk, who owns X, formerly Twitter, shared an altered version of Harris' "Freedom" ad with fake audio and changed video on his social media platform. He wrote alongside the video: "This is amazing," with a laughing emoji. Musk's post received 119 million views as of Sunday afternoon.

"I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I'm both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you're both sexist and racist," the fake ad said, in part.

The Harris campaign said in a statement on Saturday, "We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and [former President] Donald Trump."

Newsweek has reached out to Harris' campaign via email for comment and Tesla, another one of Musk's companies, for comment from Musk on Sunday afternoon. It could not reach X for comment.

Musk, has endorsed Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and is a staunch critic of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs. While DEI programs are often implemented by companies in an attempt to make the workplace more inclusive for all identities, some Republicans have pushed back against the practice, suggesting that it could lead to some people not earning their place in the workforce.

Harris has been labeled a DEI candidate by right-wing media, despite an accomplished career. Before joining Biden on the 2020 election ticket, she was a U.S. senator from California following a career as a top prosecutor in the Golden State, including serving as the state's attorney general.

The vice president's original ad, which featured Beyoncé's song "Freedom," attempts to show a stark contrast between her and Trump.

Showing videos of Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, Kamala says in the ad: "There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate."

The ad then cuts to Harris at a campaign rally. "But us, we choose something different. We choose freedom," Harris said in the voiceover of the ad. "The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body."

The fake ad that Musk posted came from X user Mr Reagan, who acknowledged in his post that the video was a parody. However, Musk made no such mention. This seems to go against the policies of Musk's own company. X prohibits users from sharing "synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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