Kamala Harris Accused of Plagiarizing Martin Luther King’s Speech

I’ve said it a million times, but somehow Donald Trump is 100x more authentic than any of these Democrat politicians.

This one by Kamala really takes the cake, though… https://t.co/KaPJfj9uE6

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) January 4, 2021

The Seemingly True Accusation

On Monday night, conservative pundit David Rubin shared side-by-side screenshots of the Harris and King interviews.

His tweet accuses Harris of stealing her story about demanding rights as a toddler at a protest from an anecdote King shared in a 1965 Playboy interview.

The Facts

The accusation first gained traction Monday night after an interaction on Twitter between users Andray Domise and @EnglesFreddie showed similarities between Harris’ story and one from a King interview decades earlier.

In the Elle interview, Ashley C. Ford leads with a story about Harris’ lifelong activism.

“Senator Kamala Harris started her life’s work young,” she wrote. “She laughs from her gut, the way you would with family, as she remembers being wheeled through an Oakland, California, civil rights march in a stroller with no straps with her parents and her uncle.

“At some point, she fell from the stroller (few safety regulations existed for children’s equipment back then), and the adults, caught up in the rapture of protest, just kept on marching. By the time they noticed little Kamala was gone and doubled back, she was understandably upset.”

Then Harris shares, “My mother tells the story about how I’m fussing and she’s like, ‘Baby, what do you want? What do you need?’ And I just looked at her and I said, ‘Fweedom.'”

This story also appears in Harris’ 2010 book, “Smart on Crime” and her 2019 book “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.”

Harris’ story shared similar details to this moment in King’s interview with Playboy:

“I never will forget a moment in Birmingham when a white policeman accosted a little Negro girl, seven or eight years old, who was walking in a demonstration with her mother. ‘What do you want?’ the policeman asked her gruffly, and the little girl looked him straight in the eye and answered, ‘Fee-dom.’ She couldn’t even pronounce it, but she knew. It was beautiful! Many times when I have been in sorely trying situations, the memory of that little one has come into my mind, and has buoyed me.”

As #Fweedom trends on Twitter, many conservative pundits shared their opinion on Harris’ story. Candace Owens mocked Harris by joking about her first words.

I’ve never shared this story but my mother tells me that when I was two years of age, I looked up to her and my father with bright eyes and uttered my first full sentence:

“Fwee at last, fwee at last, thank God almighty, we’re fwee at last”.

Thus, #BLEXIT was born. #Fweedom

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 5, 2021

Harris’ running mate, now-President-elect Joe Biden, has faced plagiarism accusations in the past.

Reports that Biden used parts of speeches from other politicians, exaggerated his past activism and plagiarized papers in law school derailed his first presidential run in 1988.

During the vice presidential debate in October, Vice President Pence accused Biden of copying parts of President Trump’s coronavirus response plans.

King’s son, Martin Luther King III, declined to comment on the accusation, instead bringing focus to the importance of protests in the fight for civil justice.

“We need to ignore noise and political attacks and focus on what is really important. African American families have been marching for freedom for generations,” he said. “As we march we must continue to focus on the ultimate goal of eradicating racism, poverty, and violence, which are central to achieving my father’s dream.”

In Conclusion

From the evidence gathered since this accusation was made, it is clear that Harris’ story resemables MLK’s speech and is too unique to be a coincidence.

In the interview, Harris states that the most incriminating detail, the “fweedom” quote, was told to her by her mother. It is unclear whether Harris intentionally stole the story from King to pass as her own or if she is relaying a story she came to believe was true.