With even Fox Information and senior Republican figures admitting that Vice President Kamala Harris received Tuesday evening’s presidential debate, some supporters of former president Donald Trump are desperately searching for crumbs of consolation. Cue the predictable conspiracy theories.
A frequent chorus that has emerged from conservatives (however curiously, not Democrats) over the past decade or so is that their man’s opponent was sporting an earpiece throughout debates. These baseless accusations have been slung at President Joe Biden in 2020, at Hillary Clinton in 2016 and at Barack Obama in 2012. The speculation was debunked on every event.
In Harris’ case, conspiracy theorists have claimed on X and different social media platforms that her earrings had earpieces in-built. Searching for an earpiece that resembles pearl studs, these sore losers declared Harris was utilizing Nova’s H1 Audio Earrings.
The earrings are stated to have directional sound that is still audible solely to the wearer. Per their Kickstarter web page, they “are placed on the earlobes and project the sound from inside the pearl straight into your ear canal.” Certain, they look a bit just like the pearl earrings Harris wore on stage however they don’t seem to be the identical. Type bloggers have already recognized the pair of Tiffany earrings Harris wore to the controversy and at earlier occasions (in addition to noting that she has worn a sequence from the identical assortment).
The primary hassle is that the Nova H1 Audio Earrings barely exist.
As Newsweek identified, the gadget was a part of a Kickstarter undertaking that pale into the ether. The earrings aren’t available for purchase anyplace on-line and by no means have been. Nova Merchandise, the corporate behind the marketing campaign, hasn’t logged into Kickstarter since Might 2023, and backers have posted on the web page asking for a standing replace on the earrings they have been purported to obtain in change for his or her pledge.
The URL for Nova Merchandise’ web site, as listed on Kickstarter, now redirects to that of one other firm, Icebach Sound Options. That web site showcases a pair of audio earrings with a distinct design and, within the wake of the controversy, a message stating “special edition for presidential debates — soon available to everyone” was added to the location someday between 7AM and 11:25AM ET, in line with caches on The Wayback Machine. That presumably tongue-in-cheek declare added hyperlinks to the CES 2025 web site.
Each Icebach and Nova’s web site’s checklist their area registrar as one Stephan Berendsen of BBG Leisure GmbH, an obvious cell video games developer primarily based in Germany. What such an organization has to do with audio merchandise or the US presidential election stays a thriller, however we have reached out to BBG — in addition to the Harris marketing campaign — for remark.
“We do not know whether Mrs. Harris wore one of our products. The resemblance is striking and while our product was not specifically developed for the use at presidential debates, it is nonetheless suited for it,” Icebach Sound Options managing director Malte Iversen advised Engadget in a press release, in what we assume is an try and money in on some sudden if uncommon publicity. “To ensure a level playing field for both candidates, we are currently developing a male version and will soon be able to offer it to the Trump campaign. The choice of color is a bit challenging though as orange does not go well with a lot of colors.”
In any case, this looks as if one other simple job for Occam’s razor. Harris virtually actually didn’t put on an earpiece as a result of the earrings she wore look noticeably totally different and the product she’s accused of sporting does not exist. By the identical token, it is merely extra believable a seasoned politician can win a debate being extraordinarily well-prepared and able to throw an opponent with a notoriously fragile ego off their recreation with out requiring a group to feed them info by way of an earpiece.
The Nova H1 Audio Earrings present all of the basic indicators of being vaporware, proper all the way down to being proven off for the primary time at CES 2023, although maybe we’ll see a brand new model beneath totally different branding someplace on the present flooring in January.
