Does the Communist Party membership card shared on social media belong to Kamala Harris?

As the US presidential election approaches, many claims and news reports are circulating regarding Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden's withdrawal.

A social media post claimed that Harris was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The claim was supported by a photograph purported to be her membership card.

According to an investigation by the fact-checking platform Teyit.org, when conducting research in open sources in foreign languages, it is possible to reach the actual story with which the claim was shared. According to a post by a user named “Jack Straw,” the claim was shared from a Telegram channel belonging to the State Archive of the Russian Federation.

According to the claim, US Presidential Candidate “Camille” Harris obtained this card during her first visit to Soviet Russia in 1984 at the age of 16. According to the story behind the claim, Harris refused to comment on the matter; and according to The New York Times, Harris's team also refused to issue a denial.

When the photo added to the claim is researched using the reverse image search method, a Facebook post shared in 2016 is reached. Although the content of the post has nothing to do with the subject of the claim, it also involves the card being attributed to someone.

When the card in this post is compared with the card attributed to Harris, it is seen that the card alleged to belong to Harris is a montage. It is understood that the card's number, which should be unique, is the same, and the parts that appear to be filled in by hand also match. In other words, the card is actually a template.

When the card images in question are examined more closely, the photos direct the user to a website. This website offers users a template of a Communist Party card, allowing them to personalize it.

Thus, it becomes clear that both Harris's card and the one in the Facebook post were created using this template. In other words, the card showing Harris's Communist Party membership is not real; it is a montage.

It takes only a few seconds to create your own card by adding your first and last name, date of birth, and a photo to the site. Looking at the card created for testing purposes while writing this article, it is evident that a different font was used on the card doctored for Harris.

In addition to these, it is also seen through a reverse image search that the photo of Harris added to the card actually belongs to her university years.

Some of Kamala Harris's policies, which clash with those of the Republicans, are fueling allegations of communism attributed to her. For instance, Harris's plan to implement a ban on price gouging by grocery stores and food suppliers had sparked controversy.

So much so that former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump described this as “Soviet-style controls.” Trump had also previously criticized Harris in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) social media account, which included an AI-generated image of her.

During his 2020 US election campaign, Trump also described Democrats as supporters of socialism, Marxism, and communism. However, polls conducted in 2023 showed that the American public did not strongly believe in the idea that the country would turn into a communist dictatorship. More than 25 percent of Republicans thought this was never possible.