Fact Check: NO Evidence That Harris Campaign Said A Recount Could Overturn Trump Win
Did the Kamala Harris campaign say it could overturn Donald Trumps election victory with a recount? No, that’s not true: There is no evidence of any such statement from the Harris campaign, nor evidence of anyone with the campaign making such a statement. Harris conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump the day after he won a majority of both the popular and Electoral College vote. And even though the campaign continues to fundraise for a Harris For President Recount Account, the campaign says on its website the money raised is “to elect Democrats down the ticket ready to hold the Trump administration accountable.”
The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) on November 10, 2024. The caption said.
BREAKING: Kamala’s campaign says They can Overturn Trump’s Election Victory with a Recount.
Here is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Nov 12 15:52:34 2024 UTC)
On November 6, 2024, the day after the 2024 election, Harris conceded to Trump. In a video (archived here) on The Associated Press channel on YouTube, she said at the 4:20 mark:
Earlier today I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump beat Harris in the Electoral College 312-226 (archived here). The winner needed 270. Harris lost all seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (Lead Stories is using information from The Associated Press, which supplies election results to private clients and newsrooms worldwide.)
Despite her concession to Trump, on November 12, 2024, Harris continued to fundraise through her website (archived here).
When donors click on a donation amount, they are taken to the Harris Fight Fund (archived here) on Actblue.com (archived here), a political fundraising website. In the fine print, donors are notified some of their money “will be allocated to Harris for President’s Recount Account.”
Here’s a screenshot of that disclaimer at the time of writing:
(Source: Actblue.com screenshot taken on Tue Nov 12 20:46:50 2024 UTC)
Despite the name of that account, the Harris Fight Fund website said money raised is for Congressional races still not called:
The Harris-Walz team is on the ground to support Democrats who will stand up to the Trump administration, and we need you to join us. Donate now to help us win critical races in the battlegrounds.
A Google search, archived here, on November 12, 2024, with the terms Harris-Recount-Trump-Overturn found no results indicating someone with the Harris campaign had made such a claim, or that the campaign itself issued such a statement.
A Harris campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for Lead Stories. This story will be updated if a response is provided.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims related to the 2024 U.S. general election and other elections are here.
