A rumor that Howard professors said U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was "the worst student ever" circulated online during the 2024 presidential race. For example, Facebook page SpaceX Fanclub posted it Sept. 10, 2024, hours before the debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump:
(Facebook/SpaceX Fanclub)
The image meme read: "Howard University Professors Confirm 'Kamala Harris Was the Worst Student Ever.'"
The post had gained more than 50,000 reactions, 28,000 shares and 13,000 comments as of this writing. Some readers seemed to interpret rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. "Probably the reason she failed her first 'Bar Exam,'" one commenter wrote.
The pinned comment under the post linked to an article on Esspots.com that began:
Howard University Professors Confirm: "Kamala Was the Worst Student Ever"
In an unexpected revelation that's sure to send shockwaves through the political world, a group of retired professors from Howard University have come forward to share what can only be described as a truly bizarre chapter in the history of the school: Vice President Kamala Harris, they claim, was their "worst student ever."
However, there was no evidence of Howard University professors speaking about Harris in those terms.
Rather, the rumor about Harris being a poor student originated with a site that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Esspots.com's disclaimer states:
Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.
The fictional story spread as Harris gained ground in polls against Trump following the Sept. 10 debate.
Esspots.com has a history of making up stories for shares and comments, sometimes relying on artificial-intelligence writing software to do its storytelling.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims coming from Esspots.com in the past, including the assertion that Kid Rock refused to share the stage with singer Taylor Swift and a rumor that Swift had to cancel dates on her Eras tour after her endorsement of Harris.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.