Was Harris Wearing 'Earring Earphones' During Debate With Trump? Bizarre Claim Sets Social Media Abuzz

The claim gains significance in light of rules set for presidential debate: the rules barred written notes for the candidates, as well as interactions with staff during the two commercial breaks. 

The earrings US Vice-President Kamala Harris wore during her debate with former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday became a social media talking point as some users claimed they were actually "wireless earphones". The claim gains significance in the light of rules set for the debate between the two candidates contesting the upcoming US presidential election: they barred written notes for the candidates, as well as interactions with staff during the two commercial breaks. 

Those alleging that Harris' earrings were earphones claim she was being fed information by her aides. However, these allegations have been widely discredited, with one report in the New York Post noting that the Vice-President appeared to be wearing a gold version of the Double Pearl Hinged Earrings from Tiffany & Co, which is not known to include electronics in its luxury jewellery. 

One X user, named ‘The Maverick Approach’, claimed early on Wednesday that Harris had been fitted with smart earrings developed by NOVA, a German company. The company claims to have developed the world’s first and only wireless earphone earrings.

Another user, Larry, wrote, “At the debate against Trump, Kamala Harris made quite the statement with her choice of earrings. Those look a lot like Nova Audio earrings. 🤔”

The clip-on NOVA H1 Audio Earrings, priced at over Rs 52,000 apiece, can project sound from inside the pearl straight into the ear canal, according to the company's Kickstarter page. “These Earrings are fully packed with the latest technology embedded in real pearls to provide you with music, phone calls and digital assistants all day long,” the site claims.

However, the page has been dormant for about a year, and some comments suggest people hadn’t received the product despite paying, The New York Post reported.

Also, Harris' earrings only barely resemble the purported NOVA innovation, as several users pointed out on social media. The only similar feature was the pearl. The Nova H1 Audio Earrings feature a much thicker hoop, while Harris’ earrings had two thin loops, several media reports noted.

A user wrote on X about the allegations against Harris: “Kamala Harris wasn’t wearing Nova H1 earring headphones. Quit lying to yourselves. She’s wearing Tiffany Hardwear pearl earrings. See how the Nova earrings only have one stalk coming off of them? See how Kamala’s has two? They’re not even the same thing.”

Some users noted that Harris has been seen wearing pearl earrings before and that it could just be a style choice, while others said she wore pearls as a nod to her affiliation with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at her alma mater Howard University. Pearls are a symbol of the sorority, which is a club of women common on US university campuses.