Allegations of plagiarism have surfaced regarding Vice President Kamala Harris, specifically concerning her 2009 book, “Smart on Crime.” These claims, first brought to light by journalist Christopher Rufo, suggest that Harris may have copied large portions of text from widely accessible sources, including Wikipedia. If true, this would place the vice president at the center of a scandal far more serious than the recent plagiarism controversies that have plagued elite universities. This isn’t simply a case of failing to give proper credit. The accusation is that Harris copied and pasted entire sections of publicly available content without attribution—a bold move for any public figure, let alone someone in her position.
For many, this echoes memories of Joe Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign when he infamously lifted a speech from British politician Neil Kinnock. At the time, Biden’s actions dealt a devastating blow to his campaign. But as egregious as that incident was, Harris’s alleged plagiarism could be even more damaging. The sheer brazenness of copying entire sections from Wikipedia—the very symbol of crowdsourced, non-expert content—raises serious questions about Harris’s intellectual integrity and accountability.
Rufo, who first reported these allegations, has been adamant that he has the evidence to back up his claims. One of his key pieces of proof comes from an unexpected source: CNN. A post from the network confirms the validity of the allegations, leaving Harris and her team scrambling to control the fallout.
BREAKING: CNN confirms my reporting that Kamala Harris plagiarized her book, Smart on Crime.
This is exactly how it worked with Claudine Gay: the NYT tried to obfuscate; CNN told the truth; other publications followed. Eventually, even the NYT admitted that it was plagiarism. pic.twitter.com/msa1PpwZaY
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 15, 2024
The reaction from Harris’s publisher, Chronicle Books, has done little to quell the controversy. In fact, it seems they’ve stumbled into further embarrassment. In an internal company communication, accidentally sent to Rufo’s team, it was revealed that the publisher is in full damage-control mode. The email indicates that Chronicle Books has placed Vice President Lauren Hoffman in charge of managing the situation and has instructed that all inquiries regarding the plagiarism scandal be routed to upper management—a clear sign of the seriousness with which they are treating the situation. However, this inadvertent leak only adds fuel to the fire, giving the impression that the publisher is well aware of the disaster unfolding.
BREAKING: Kamala Harris’s publisher, Chronicle Books, is in damage control mode. The company accidentally sent my team an internal communication indicating that VP Lauren Hoffman is requiring that all inquiries about Harris’s plagiarism go through the higher ups. pic.twitter.com/seiF3bu0R2
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 14, 2024