Harris team characterizes plagiarism accusations as a "desperate ploy"
The campaign of Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has disputed allegations of plagiarism leveled against her. The charge that she, along with co-author Joan O'C. Hamilton, plagiarized portions of a 2009 work on the American criminal justice system is a tactic by conservative forces to mislead voters, asserted the Harris team.
These allegations surfaced on Monday, when conservative activist Christopher Rufo posted an article on the Substack blog platform, pointing out passages he claimed were copied sans proper acknowledgment. In his article, Rufo stated, "In total, there's definitely a breach of norms here." Extensive sections were reproduced almost verbatim, without proper citations or quotation marks, aligning with the definition of plagiarism.
Rufo's article referenced an investigation by Austrian plagiarism hunter Stefan Weber, who identified two instances: a paragraph from a Wikipedia entry and a supposed anecdote about Harris' childhood, attributed to a 1965 interview with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
James Singer, representing the Harris campaign, dismissed the claims via email, labeling them a political smear campaign aimed at a book Harris co-authored over a decade ago. The right-wing is uneasy with Harris' growing bipartisan support for her candidacy. Her Republican competitor, Donald Trump, is instead leaning into a conservative stronghold and sidestepping questions about his misstatements. The book has been available for 15 years, and Harris has consistently cited her sources and statistics.
Plagiarism analysts and scholars who examined the allegations concluded that several are inconsequential or unverifiable, while others stemmed from careless writing rather than deceitful intent. On this topic, Jonathan Bailey, head of the blog "Plagiarism Today," expressed his skepticism, calling the accusation "unfounded."
Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the US presidential election of 2024 and Kamala Harris' campaign, plagiarism analysts have found several allegations against her to be inconsequential or unverifiable. Furthermore, the Harris team maintains that the plagiarism accusations are a tactic to mislead voters, as her Republican competitor, Donald Trump, focuses on his own misstatements and avoids addressing potential issues.
