Yesterday, today, tomorrow quote isn't from Kamala Harris | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Kamala Harris said quote that included 'yesterday was today yesterday'

A July 23 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a picture of Vice President Kamala Harris alongside a quote attributed to her.

“Today is today, and yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today, tomorrow. So live today, so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow,” the text reads.

The post was shared more than 100 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

Harris did not say this. The quote comes from an altered clip of her speech at a 2023 rally that has been previously debunked.

Harris spoke about her past as a Howard student

On April 25, 2023, Harris spoke at a rally for reproductive freedom held by organizations including Planned Parenthood Action Fund at Howard University, Harris' alma mater. A clip of her speech was digitally altered with false audio and altered video to make it appear as if she repetitively slurred the words “yesterday,” “today” and “tomorrow.”

The real video and the White House transcript show Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential race, never said that. Instead, she spoke about her time as a student at Howard and the “first office” she ever ran for, a student council position as a college freshman. Harris compared it to her life years later, running for reelection alongside President Joe Biden. The video then shows what she really said, around the one-hour-and-one-minute mark:

“So I think it’s very important – as you have heard from so many incredible leaders – for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates

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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The Associated Press and Snopes debunked similar claims.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris didn't say yesterday, today, tomorrow quote | Fact check

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