The Claim
Conservative commentator and author Matt Margolis on Monday posted “Kamala Harris joked about killing Trump, Pence and Sessions with Ellen in 2018. Can we impeach her?” in a tweet that shared a clip of Harris’ 2018 interview with DeGeneres that received more than 200 likes and 200 retweets.
Another Twitter user wrote on Saturday that “Kamala Harris Jokes about Killing Trump, Pence, Sessions,” and shared a 2018 article from the National Review with the same headline.
In October, the Trump War Room Twitter account tweeted a clip of Harris’ interview with DeGeneres, writing “WATCH: Kamala Harris jokes about killing President Trump and Vice President Pence,” that received more than 1,000 likes and more than 1,000 retweets.
This led to Fox News host Sean Hannity posting the same day: “FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris Jokes About Killing Donald Trump and Mike Pence on ‘Ellen,’” with a link to an article about the Harris’ appearance on the show in a tweet that received almost 6,000 likes and more than 5,000 retweets.
The Facts
The Ellen DeGeneres Show is recognized as an American daytime comedy talk show, and DeGeneres is a known comedian and TV host.
Harris appeared on the show in 2018 while a California senator.
At one point, DeGeneres launched a series of random, humorous questions for Harris, saying “People are gonna want to know more about Kamala Harris.”
In a YouTube video of the interview, DeGeneres questioned Harris at about the 6:00 mark.
She then questioned Harris on who her first celebrity crush was and what was her most rebellious act as a teenager before asking, “If you had to be stuck in an elevator with either President Trump, Mike Pence or Jeff Sessions, who would it be?”
“Does one of us have to come out alive?” Harris asked before laughing with DeGeneres, prompting laughs from the live studio audience.
DeGeneres moved on without comment, asking Harris another question.
Immediately after Harris’ appearance, allegations began to surface against her claiming that she joked about killing Trump, Pence and Sessions.
Josh Caplan, an editor at Breitbart News, tweeted on April 5, 2018 that “Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) laughs hysterically after joking about killing President Trump during an appearance on The Ellen Show,” in a post that received more than 3,000 likes and more than 3,000 retweets.
Similar tweets appeared on Wednesday after Margolis’ tweet on Monday, sharing articles from online sources repeating claims about Harris’ joke.
The Ruling
Mostly False.
Harris’ joke on The Ellen DeGeneres show did not explicitly specify killing Trump or Pence in an elevator if she had to be stuck with one of them.
She asked DeGeneres, “Does one of us have to come out alive?”
