What Happened to Kamala Harris' Face? People Are Concerned After a TV Interview
By Michelle SteinUpdated
Kamala Harris is a well-known politician who threw her hat into the presidential ring in January 2019. Although she officially dropped out of the primary election in December, the U.S. Senator from California has since been rumored to be one of Joe Biden's potential vice president picks. Whether or not that actually happens, people know what Harris looks like. Or what she should look like.
That's because in mid-July 2020, Twitter was abuzz with the same question: What happened to Kamala's face?
What happened to Kamala Harris' face?
Here's the scoop: On Saturday, July 18, Harris appeared on MSNBC to discuss John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressman who died a day earlier. The only thing many viewers could concentrate on, however, was Harris' face — and they specifically honed in on the senator's cheeks. Take a look at the clip, below, to see if you can tell that anything is "off" about her appearance.
Thank you @KamalaHarris for joining me tonight on #PoliticsNation to remember the life and legacy of Congressman John Lewis. pic.twitter.com/QCjgsLrqwa
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 18, 2020
She looks ... weird, right? And plenty of theories started floating around on Twitter shortly after Harris' MSNBC appearance. Some viewers flat-out refused to believe that was Kamala Harris at all.
That is not Kamala Harris, the question is.... where would she be???
— Let Freedom Ring (@Op_Liberti) July 19, 2020
One person tweeted, "That is not Kamala Harris, the question is.... where would she be???"
Another Twitter user wrote, "This is not what I recall Kamala Harris looking like... what is going on here?"
This is not what I recall Kamala Harris looking like... what is going on here?
— FLITCRAFT (@flitcraftian) July 19, 2020
Yet another Twitter user offered a side-by-side look at what the "before" Harris looked like versus what she looked like during her July 18 interview — making the differences in her face stand out even more.
Omg is this really Kamala Harris? What in the holy hell happened to her face? pic.twitter.com/i8uy8WfN5f
— I Yam What I Yam (@Nvr4Get91101) July 19, 2020
Some viewers suspected Harris might have gotten Botox, while others thought the senator may have went through with full-on cheek implants. Still others swore that even her teeth were noticeably different. People were convinced that some sort of plastic surgery or drastic change had recently happened since her last public appearance.
Botox? Fillers? Weight loss?
— Kambree (@KamVTV) July 19, 2020
How did she get plastic surgery during the pandemic when cancer patients aren't even allowed to get treated?
— Name Cannot Be Blank 🇺🇸 🙏🇺🇸🙏 (@lizg0718) July 19, 2020
That's when some voices of reason came to explain what was really going on with Harris' face. And now everything suddenly makes perfect sense. "This is literally the same recording," one Twitter user wrote, posting a much clearer video of the interview. "Al Sharpton always records his segments on a phone from the television and posts it on his feed."
Another Twitter user pointed out the lighting was also partially to blame for the reason Harris' face looked so "off."
"They put her in poor lighting and with a different facial expression," they tweeted. "Anyone who knows anything about cameras, angles, lighting, or with common sense can tell nothings [sic] wrong with her."
It seems, therefore, the answer to "What happened to Kamala Harris' face?" is simple: nothing. A low-quality recording of the MSNBC interview seems to have distorted the senator's face. Because if you look at a clearer video of the same interview, Harris looks perfectly like herself.
This combined with less-than-ideal lighting can explain why so many viewers did a double take on July 18 — and why they were all but convinced Botox was to blame for Harris' drastically different-seeming face.