Former U.S. President Donald Trump made the claim at an Aug. 3, 2024, rally.
With three months to go until the 2024 U.S. presidential election, former Republican U.S. President Donald Trump addressed a campaign rally crowd in Atlanta, Georgia, telling them Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris doesn't want Americans to say "Merry Christmas."
Trump told the crowd at an Aug. 3 rally, referencing Harris, "Ready? The two words are 'Merry Christmas.' She doesn't want anybody saying 'Merry Christmas.' Now she's denying it and then they found the tape last night. She's such a liar."
Basically, the accusation less than five months from the Christmas holiday was that Harris — while setting her sights on the White House — did not want anyone saying "Merry Christmas." However, this broad claim was both false and nothing more than the latest chapter in what's become known as the "War on Christmas" — a familiar theme of seemingly imaginary persecution promoted at past Trump rallies.
Trump's mention of a "tape" referenced the unearthing of a December 2017 video clip first reported by Fox News Digital on Aug. 1, 2024. The article on FoxNews.com (archived) displayed the headline, "Flashback: Harris fumed at Americans for saying 'Merry Christmas' before illegal migrants got protections."
The Fox article began:
Then-Sen. Kamala Harris warned Americans not to say "Merry Christmas" until there was permanent status for some illegal immigrants — amid a Trump-era battle over protections for some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
"And when we all sing happy tunes, and sing Merry Christmas, and wish each other Merry Christmas, these children are not going to have a Merry Christmas. How dare we speak Merry Christmas. How dare we? They will not have a Merry Christmas," she said at a 2017 press conference, a video of which was obtained by Fox News Digital.
Speakers pushed for the passage of the Dream Act, which would grant a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors, NBC News reported.
According to the NBC News article linked in the Fox News story and a photo posted on the @NBCLatino X account, the video showed Harris speaking at a news conference for a DREAM Act rally at the United Methodist Building near the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 19, 2017.
Fox News shared a nearly 60-second video alongside its Aug. 1, 2024, article, including on FoxNews.com, Facebook and YouTube.
In the video, Harris says the following:
And only when they cleared that vet did we give them DACA status. And now we're talking about taking it away. It is morally wrong. And when we all sing happy tunes and sing "Merry Christmas" and wish each other "Merry Christmas," these children are not going to have a "Merry Christmas." How dare we speak "Merry Christmas." How dare we. They will not have a "Merry Christmas." They don't know if they will be here in a matter of days, weeks and months. Since Sept. 5, over 12,000 have lost their status. Each day, 122 lose their status. Each week, 851 lose their status. Each day matters.
On the day after making these remarks, Harris posted on Facebook, "DACA is an urgent issue and something we must address immediately. Each day in limbo in the life of these young 'Dreamers' is a very long time. We cannot stay silent. We must pass the DREAM Act now." She also published an opinion piece on Elle.com on the same day, titled, "Sen. Kamala Harris: We Must Act to Protect Dreamers Before the New Year."
The Fox News article did not mention a videographer's name credited for recording the video. In our research, we found that immigration organizer and writer Thomas Kennedy possibly captured the clip. A link in the aforementioned NBC News article led to a removed video. That link referenced an account that may have belonged to Kennedy. Reached via a direct message on X, Kennedy told Snopes, "I think thats my old Facebook account that I deleted." Upon asking if he recorded the video, he said, "I was at the rally but have no recollection of the video or remarks."
Harris Campaign Response to Fox News
The end of the Fox News article featured a statement from Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz, in which he commented on immigration policies:
The Harris campaign has pushed back, contrasting her record with Trump's record in office.
"The only 'plan' Donald Trump has to secure our border is ripping mothers from their children and a few xenophobic placards at the Republican National Convention. He tanked the toughest bipartisan border security deal in a generation because, for Donald Trump, this has never been about actually securing the border — it's always about himself. He can make up whatever lies he wants, but the fact is there's only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation's border, and that's Vice President Harris," Harris campaign spokesperson said.
We emailed Munoz to ask questions about this matter but did not yet receive a response. Further, we were unable to find a Harris campaign denial of the 2017 video's existence — a matter mentioned by Trump during the Atlanta rally.
Harris' Past Messages of 'Merry Christmas'
In sum, again, the assertion promoted by Trump that Harris "doesn't want anybody saying 'Merry Christmas'" was not true. No evidence included with the unearthed video clip — a clip featuring remarks specifically about seeking to ensure immigrants wouldn't need to worry around Christmastime that the government or law enforcement might force them to leave the U.S. — showed Harris to be against the idea of saying "Merry Christmas" in any year, which online users sharing the clip asserted.
In fact, Harris' X account features several Christmas messages from past years. For example, five days after the recording of the Dec. 19, 2017, video she tweeted (archived) a Christmas Eve message offering sympathy for California fire victims and thanking firefighters for their efforts. Then, on Christmas Day, she tweeted (archived) a message including the words "Merry Christmas!," followed by another tweet (archived) honoring the "brave service-members" serving the U.S. on the Christian holiday.
In the most recent example from 2023, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff appeared in a Christmas-themed video posted across her social media pages, including on Instagram, in which they honored service members. Again, Harris said "Merry Christmas," just as she wrote in another post also posted on Christmas Day.
As we previously reported about the history of the "War on Christmas" on Nov. 29, 2017 — just three weeks prior to Harris' video-recorded remarks about "Merry Christmas" and immigration — the evidence suggests there is no vast conspiracy to erase the Christmas holiday and destroy American civilization in the process, even if some people clearly perceive it to be the case.