Fact check: Fake anti-Christmas quote attributed to Kamala Harris began as satire
The claim: Kamala Harris said Christmas should not be a federal holiday
On Dec. 11, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to designate Dec. 24, 2020 — Christmas Eve — as a federal holiday, per the White House. Trump has issued similar orders in previous years, per USA TODAY.
Dec. 25 — Christmas Day — is already a federal holiday.
Recently, a few users took to Facebook to post a quote on the subject of Christmas that they claim came from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“Why is Christmas held above Hamnukah or Kwanzaa? It’s a long-standing grievous error to allow Christians some kind of festival of superiority that’s forcibly pushed down the throats of others. This is not a Christian nation,” the quote reads, misspelling Hanukkah.
Fact or fiction?:We’re fact checking the news and sending it to your inbox. Sign up to get that here.
Along with the quote, a user added a caption that said, “Well, y’all voted for this, so, I don’t want to hear nothing! She is shameful!!!”
The quote originated on America’s Last Line of Defense, a website that published a Nov. 21 article headlined “Kamala: ‘Christmas Shouldn’t Be A Federal Holiday.'” It contained the quote that was posted to Facebook.
It also claimed that Harris believes “that keeping the celebration of Christ’s birth as an official federally observed date is tantamount to a violation of separation of church and state,” and contained the allegation that “Harris was born of satanic demons and raised in a household dominated by Scientology.”
The user who posted the quote to Facebookhas not responded to requests from USA TODAY for comment.
A satirical website
America’s Last Line of Defense is a satirical publication that publishes fictitious articles, per its website.
“Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined,” the website reads. “Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.”
The story about Harris was filed under the section “Silly Tater Satire.”
Christopher Blair, the creator of America’s Last Line of Defense, told USA TODAY that its articles have “zero in common with reality.”
“We follow one specific rule, and that is that the piece has to be ridiculous,” he wrote in an emailed statement.
Harris identifies as Baptist, celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah
This is not the first time posts on Facebook have falsely attributed anti-Christian quotes to Harris. In October, some users baselessly claimed she called churches “propaganda centers,” per USA TODAY.
In truth, Harris identifies as a Baptist — a denomination of Christianity — and attends services at the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, per USA TODAY.
Her father was a Christian and her mother was Hindu. Growing up, Harris attended services at both a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple.
Fact check:No evidence Kamala Harris ever said ‘looters are just feeding their hungry kids’
Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.
As a result, Harris celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.
On Dec. 10, Harris and Emhoff took to Twitter to mark the start of Hanukkah. In a video message, Emhoff said Hanukkah is “one of our favorite holidays in our big modern family.”
“I love Hanukkah because it really is about the light, and bringing light where there has been darkness,” Harris said. “And there is so much work to be done in the world to bring light.”
Harris has also posted about Christmas in the past.
“There is no greater gift than time with family, friends, and loved ones. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas,” she wrote on Twitter in 2019, along with a picture of herself and Emhoff.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, the claim that Kamala Harris said Christmas should not be a federal holiday is FALSE. The quote attributed to her on the subject originated on America’s Last Line of Defense, a satirical website that notes its content is “fiction” and “not real.” Harris identifies as Baptist and celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah with her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish.
Design Miami 2015: traditional automotive brands “don’t need to be scared” of upstarts including Tesla and Apple – and the cars of the future may not be electric, according to Audi’s head of experiential marketing. Other power sources including fuel cells may turn out to be more effective than batteries, Bernhard Neumann told Dezeen, although he said “the end of the combustion engine will come for sure.” When asked whether brands like Audi felt threatened by the hype around battery-powered electric vehicles being developed by American companies, Neumann said: “I don’t think we need to be scared. We are very aware and we are adapting very fast.” Californian company Tesla has led the charge towards electric cars, launching the Tesla Roadster in 2008, and Apple is widely expected to follow suit.
Mainstream rivals have since raced to catch up and develop battery-powered vehicles. BMW launched its first electric car, the i3, in 2013 while Porsche unveiled its first all-electric sports car in September.
But while petrol is on its way out as a fuel source, its replacement is not yet certain, Neumann added. “That is the million-dollar question. Everybody is thinking now that it is electric, but I also see alternatives. For example the fuel cell.”
Neumann spoke to Dezeen at Design Miami in Florida last week, where the brand presented its forthcoming E-tron Quattro electric sport-utility vehicle. This will be the German car brand’s first all-electric car when it goes on sale in 2018. Yet Audi is hedging its bets, and will also next year showcase a version powered by fuel cells, which convert energy from fuels such as hydrogen into electricity via a chemical reaction rather than combustion.
Audi is also joining Tesla, Google, Apple and others by developing concepts for driverless cars, adapting its RS 7 performance cars to travel at speed around race tracks without a driver. Sven Schuwirth, vice president of brand strategy and digital business at the brand, told Dezeen last month that autonomous vehicles could “disrupt the entire business of domestic flights” as business travellers sleep in their cars rather than fly.
