Trump falsely claimed Harris didn't want anyone to wish her “Merry Christmas”

Claim:

A 2017 video suggests that US Vice President Kamala Harris does not want anyone to say “Merry Christmas” no matter what year.

Evaluation:

context

Former US President Donald Trump made this claim at a rally on August 3, 2024.

Three months before the 2024 US presidential election, former Republican US President Donald Trump addressed a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, and told them that Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris doesn't want Americans to say “Merry Christmas.”

Trump told the crowd at an Aug. 3 rally, referring to Harris: “Ready? The two words are 'Merry Christmas.' She doesn't want anybody to say 'Merry Christmas.' Now she's denying it and then they found the tape last night. She's such a liar.”

Essentially, the allegation was less than five months before the Christmas holidays, Harris – while She has her sights set on the White House — didn't want anyone to say “Merry Christmas.” However, this blanket statement was false and nothing more than the latest chapter in what became known as the “War on Christmas.” – a familiar theme of seemingly imagined persecution promoted at previous Trump rallies.

Trump's mention of a “tape” referred to the discovery of a December 2017 video clip that Fox News Digital first reported on August 1, 2024. The article about FoxNews.com (archived) carried the headline: “Flashback: Harris fumed at Americans who wished 'Merry Christmas' before illegal immigrants received protections.”

The Fox article began:

Then-Senator Kamala Harris warned Americans not to say “Merry Christmas” until some illegal immigrants were granted permanent residency status, amid a Trump-era dispute over protections for some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

“And if we all sing happy songs and sing 'Merry Christmas' and wish each other a Merry Christmas, those children are not going to have a Merry Christmas. How dare we say 'Merry Christmas'? How dare we? They are not going to have a Merry Christmas,” she said at a 2017 press conference, a video of which was obtained by Fox News Digital.

According to NBC News, speakers pushed for passage of the “Dream Act,” which would provide a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who came to the United States as minors.

According to the NBC News article linked in the Fox News post and a photo posted on the @NBCLatino X account, the video showed Harris at a press conference for a DREAM Act rally at the United Methodist Building near the U.S. Capitol on December 19, 2017.

Fox News published a nearly 60-second video alongside its August 1, 2024 article, including on FoxNews.com, Facebook, and YouTube.

In the video, Harris says:

And it wasn't until they released that veterans report that we granted them DACA status. And now we're talking about taking it away. That's morally wrong. And if we all sing happy songs and sing “Merry Christmas” and wish each other “Merry Christmas,” those kids are not going to have a “Merry Christmas.” How dare we say “Merry Christmas”? How dare we. They are not going to have a “Merry Christmas.” They don't know if they're going to be here a few days, weeks, months from now. Since September 5th, over 12,000 people have lost their status. Every day, 122 lose their status. Every week, 851 lose their status. Every day counts.

A day after these remarks, Harris posted on Facebook: “DACA is an urgent issue and something we must address immediately. Every day in limbo in the lives of these young 'Dreamers' is a very long time. We cannot remain silent. We must pass the DREAM Act now.” That same day, she also posted an op-ed on Elle.com titled “Sen. Kamala Harris: We must act to protect Dreamers before the new year.”

The Fox News article did not mention the name of a videographer who recorded the video. In our research, we found that immigration organizer and author Thomas Kennedy may have recorded the clip. A link in the NBC News article mentioned above led to a removed video. That link pointed to an account that may have belonged to Kennedy. Reached via direct message on X, Kennedy told Snopes, “I believe that's my old Facebook account that I deleted.” When asked if he recorded the video, he said, “I was at the rally, but I don't remember the video or the remarks.”

Harris campaign reaction to Fox News

At the end of the Fox News article, a statement from Harris' campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz appeared, commenting on immigration policy:

The Harris campaign team pushed back, comparing her record to Trump's in office.

“The only 'plan' Donald Trump has to secure our border is to separate mothers from their children and display a few xenophobic signs at the Republican National Convention. He killed the toughest bipartisan border security deal in a generation because for Donald Trump, it was never about actually securing the border – it was always about himself. He can make up all kinds of lies, but the fact is that there is only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to secure our nation's border, and that is Vice President Harris,” a spokesperson for her campaign said.

We emailed Munoz with questions about the matter but have not yet received a response. We also could not find a denial from the Harris campaign about the existence of the 2017 video. – an issue Trump mentioned during the rally in Atlanta.

Harris' previous “Merry Christmas” messages

So, in summary, Trump's claim that Harris doesn't want anyone to say “Merry Christmas” is untrue. The unearthed video clip – which specifically addresses the demand that immigrants not have to fear that the government or law enforcement might force them to leave the U.S. at Christmas – contains no evidence to show that Harris is against the idea of ​​saying “Merry Christmas” every year, which is what online users sharing the clip claim.

In fact, Harris' X-Account contains several Christmas messages from previous years. For example, five days after the December 19, 2017 video was recorded, tweeted (archived) a message on Christmas Eve expressing her condolences to the victims of the California fire and thanking the firefighters for their efforts. Then, on Christmas Day, she wrote tweeted (archived) a message with the words “Merry Christmas!”, followed by another tweet (archived) to honor the “brave soldiers” who serve the United States on this Christian holiday.

In the most recent example from 2023, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff appeared in a Christmas-themed video posted on their social media pages, including Instagramhonoring the soldiers. Again Harris said “Merry Christmas,” just as she did in another post also posted on Christmas Day.

As we reported on the story of the “war on Christmas” on November 29, 2017 — just three weeks before Harris' videotaped remarks about “Merry Christmas” and immigration — TThe evidence suggests that there is no grand conspiracy to eradicate Christmas and thereby destroy American civilization, although some people clearly believe this.

Sources