Kamala Harris faced an awkward moment on Election Day when she turned her smartphone toward the cameras while saying she was "on the phone with a voter," only to expose that she wasn't actually making a call. Since then, several social media users are claiming that Harris faked the phone call.
However, the claim made on X, which soon went viral isn't true. According to Apple's user guides, it's completely possible to have the camera app open while being on an active call. Harris and Donald Trump are having a tough fight and it's just a matter of time the winner of the 2024 US Presidential Election will be declared.
Harris' Big Election Day Gaffe
"Have you voted yet?" Harris asked with a smile as she spoke into the phone. After a brief pause, as if listening, she exclaimed, "You did, thank you!" She then turned her phone screen toward the excited crowd of supporters at the Democratic Party's Washington, DC headquarters, who erupted in applause and cheers.
However, viewers at home were quick to notice that her phone appeared to have the camera app open, suggesting she wasn't actually on a phone call.
"Kamala just pretended to talk to a voter on the phone but mistakenly showed that her phone was open to the camera app," one viewer wrote on X.
"Kamala Harris is so phony... that she got busted making a fake phone call to a "supporter" today. Her campaign is a disaster," another person said.
"LMAO... everything about Kamala is fake and staged," yet another user wrote.
Others called the apparent failed attempt "brutal" and "embarrassing," though some questioned the idea that it was a "fake phone call."
Didn't Fake Call
However, the claim is not true as many had a misunderstanding. The camera app shows that Harris is using an iPhone. According to Apple's iPhone User Guide, apps like the camera can be accessed during a call by simply returning to the home screen and opening the app.
It can be tried with any iPhone and it can be proved that while on an active call, it was possible to swipe up to reach the home screen and open the camera app without disconnecting the call.
As Harris brings the phone closer to her face, the iPhone screen dims, which is typical programming. Modern iPhones are equipped with a proximity sensor that detects when an object, like a face, is nearby and dims the screen to conserve battery life.
Apple's developer documentation explains that the "proximity sensor detects when the user is holding the device close to their face." It is "used for dimming the screen to preserve battery while user is answering a phone call," according to a Medium article by self-described software engineer Myrick Chow.
The video on X was a clip from a 10-minute, 33-second video posted by C-SPAN on November 5, 2024, which showed Harris making a "surprise Election Day visit to Democratic National Headquarters." The scene featured in the X video occurs at the 2:20 mark.
Harris made several more phone calls on air, telling the callers that their votes were "important" and encouraging them to make sure they went to the polls that day.
