Baseless claim about Kamala Harris crash spread by mysterious site

Next, we examined the X-rays shown in the video.

Using reverse image search again, it is clear that these images have been lifted from medical research articles posted in 2010 and 2017.

According to the articles, the first X-ray belongs to a 58-year-old patient admitted to a hospital in China, external.

The second X-ray belongs to a 12-year-old girl admitted to the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands., external

On the video interview itself, we approached several experts to see whether it had been generated by AI.

Professor Hany Farid, an expert in digitally manipulated images, analysed the video and found no evidence of digital manipulation or AI-generation in either the audio or visuals.

“I think it is most likely that this is an old-fashioned (and not particularly well executed) cheap fake that is simply staged,” he said.

Prof Farid explained that unlike “deepfakes” which are typically created or edited by using artificial intelligence tools, a “cheap fake” can be created by using lower-tech software that is cheaper and more accessible.

A cheap fake, he said, encompasses everything from slowing down an audio to make someone sound drunk to cropping an image.

“It is a good reminder that we don’t need a lot of technology to perpetrate lies,” Prof Farid added.

We looked for any press reports from 2011 about a hit and run incident in San Francisco allegedly involving Ms Harris – who was then Attorney General of California – but could find none.

We have also contacted the San Francisco police department and the Harris campaign.