Kamala Harris’ campaign team is editing news headlines on ads in her favor — without outlets’ knowledge: report
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team has been quietly editing news headlines in Google search ads to make it seem like major news outlets are on her side, according to a report.
The altered headlines — appearing on Google ads and paired with a “Paid for by Harris for President” banner — were changed without the news outlets’ knowledge, Axios reported Tuesday.
Nearly a dozen publishers were swept up in the faux headline campaign, including major companies like the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News, the Associated Press and PBS.
Even smaller publications like North Dakota’s WDay Radio also saw their headlines changed.
The ads include links to real articles from news outlets, but the headlines and descriptive text had been edited to cast a supportive light on the 59-year-old presidential hopeful.
For example, one ad that ran alongside an article from the Guardian shows a headline that reads “VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans – Harris Defends Repro Freedom” and includes supporting text underneath the headline that reads, “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.”
Another linking to an NPR story reads, “Harris Will Lower Health Costs,” with supporting text that says, “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care,” Axios reported.
Spokespeople from the affected companies like CNN, USA Today and NPR — all of which have published flattering content about Harris in recent weeks — said they had no idea the companies were tied up in the campaign.
“While we understand why an organization might wish to align itself with the Guardian’s trusted brand, we need to ensure it is being used appropriately and with our permission. We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice,” a Guardian spokesperson said.
Though misleading, the tactic does not violate Google’s policies because the fake ads are prominently labeled as “sponsored” and “easily distinguishable from search results.”
“They also include ‘paid for by’ disclosures so it’s clear to users who paid for them. It’s fairly common for advertisers to link out to or cite external websites, including news sites, in their ads,” a Google spokesperson added.
The shocking report comes as Harris is hiding from the very same press that she is desperately trying to skew in her favor.
The former California attorney general has refused to do significant interviews or news appearances since winning the presidential nomination more than three weeks ago.
The Harris campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
