A viral video shared on X claims to show 2024 Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris saying she can ruin lives with “the swipe of a pen.”

Power hungry Kamala Harris describing how she can ruin lives with the ‘swipe of a pen’:
“I learned that with the swipe of my pen, I could charge someone with the lowest level offense. And because of the swipe of my pen, that person could be arrested, they could sit in jail for at… pic.twitter.com/AX7HQEYhOB

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) August 16, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

The claim is misleading. While Harris did make the remark in 2019 at a Democratic dinner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the video clip shared on X is missing important context. The full video, shared via C-SPAN, indicates Harris discussed how power “should be wielded with mindfulness.”

Fact Check:

Harris made a campaign stop Monday in Pittsburgh, where she said U.S. Steel “should remain domestically owned,” according to The Associated Press. Harris was joined by President Joe Biden at the event, the outlet reported.

The video, viewed nearly two million times, claims to show Harris saying she can ruin lives with “the swipe of a pen.”

“I learned that with the swipe of my pen, I could charge someone with the lowest level offense. And because of the swipe of my pen, that person could be arrested, they could sit in jail for at least 48 hours, they could lose time from work and their family, maybe lose their job. They’d have to come out of their own pocket to help hire a lawyer. They’d lose standing in their community. All because of the swipe of my pen,” Harris appears to say in the video.

“Weeks later I could dismiss the charges, but their life would be forever be changed. So I learned at a very young age, the power,” she continues.

The claim is misleading. While Harris did make the remark in 2019 at a Democratic dinner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the video clip shared on X is missing important context. The full video, shared via C-SPAN, indicates Harris discussed how power “should be wielded with mindfulness.”

“And I was just a lowly deputy DA,” Harris says in the video following her “swipe of a pen” comment. “Yet we have a person in the White House who holds the office of president of the United States, who does not fully, or even partially, understand what it means to have power. When you truly understand what it means to be powerful, you understand that the greatest measure of your strength is not who you beat down, it is who you lift up,” she added, taking aim at then-President Donald Trump. (RELATED: Fact-Checking Kamala Harris And Tim Walz’s First Joint Interview)

Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting Harris said she can ruin lives with “the swipe of a pen.” In fact, the opposite is true. On August 30, PolitiFact debunked the clip, indicating it lacked the context provided by the full C-SPAN video.

Additionally, Harris does not appear to have publicly commented on the claim via her 2024 campaign website or her verified social media accounts.

Check Your Fact has contacted a Harris spokesperson for comment.