The idea that a presidential candidate has used a fake earpiece or listening device is a very old one. It was alleged that everyone from George W. Bush to Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama had used such a device in debates. Still, it’s never been substantiated in any of those cases, mostly because hiding a hidden earpiece setup would be next to impossible.
this color🔥🔥🔥 also the “bluetooth” earrings😂 pic.twitter.com/dhAYHHGQXM
— ✨🤎darkie malarkey🤎✨ (@ACadouglas) October 11, 2024
When Donald Trump dated Kamala Harris earlier this fall, a novel version of the usual conspiracy theory soon emerged: that the earrings Harris was wearing in the debate were, in fact, equipped with Bluetooth. This supposedly was why Harris was widely seen as having defeated Trump in the debate.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Within hours of the debate, this theory was debunked in several ways. For one thing, it’s clear exactly what model of Tiffany’s earrings Harris was wearing that night and had she’d worn them before. Secondly, the supposed Bluetooth earrings the conspirators alleged Harris was wearing were introduced a couple of years ago as a Kickstarter project, but never reached the market, and Wired staged a debate with them to find that they wouldn’t work in such an environment.
Furthermore, Harris is famously Bluetooth-phobic and has been known to prefer wired earphones to Bluetooth technology.
But this weekend, months after the fact, J.D. Vance and the woman interviewing him decided to make a crack about the mythical Bluetooth earrings from the debate.
JD Vance: I left my bluetooth earrings at home. ☠️ pic.twitter.com/s4Vo4PkUd3
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 13, 2024
Vance appeared in Reading, PA, on Saturday and was intervewed on stage by former ESPN anchor Sage Steele. In informing the crowd that Vance had not received any of the questions in advance — possibly referenced another dubious debate conspiracy theory — Steele declared, “there’s nobody in his ear, no cute earrings, nothing like that,” at which point Vance said “I left my Bluetooth earrings at home.”
It was the latest of many visits to the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania by the members of the two presidential tickets, following Trump’s recent return rally in Butler. Vice President Harris will come to the Philadelphia suburbs on Wednesday, for a CNN town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper, while Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff appeared with Ben Stiller at a pair of events in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
