A rumor that pro golfer Tiger Woods condemned U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for affecting a "fake Black accent" circulated online in early September 2024, four weeks before Harris and former President Donald Trump were to face off in the presidential election.
For example, Facebook page American Liberty posted a meme that claimed Woods stated, "Kamala's fake Black accent is embarrassing and extremely offensive."
(Facebook user "American Liberty")
Variations of the rumor spread on X, and some readers seemed to interpret it as a factual recounting of real-life events. Rapper Uncle Luke even recorded a video criticizing Woods for his purported dig at Harris.
However, there was no evidence Woods ever made such a statement. Rather, the rumor about Woods calling Harris' accent "offensive" originated with the American Liberty page — a Facebook account with an "Introduction" describing it as "A subsidiary of the [America's Last Line of Defense] ALLOD network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real."
ALLOD is a network of websites and social media pages that describes its output as satirical in nature. The American Liberty page links to another site on the network, patriotpartypress.com, which has the following disclaimer:
Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. [...]
The fictional story spread after Republicans and right-wing news media outlets questioned supposed changes in Harris' accent at her various appearances in September. Fox News' Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, "Since when does the vice president have what sounds like a Southern accent?" — to which Jean-Pierre responded she had "no idea" what he was referring to.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims from the ALLOD network, including a false rumor that McDonald's confirmed Harris was once fired from a job at McDonald's for stealing.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.