Kamala Harris has just lately confronted accusations of plagiarism from conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who claimed that her 2009 e-book, Good on Crime, contained sections lifted from publicly accessible sources like Wikipedia and information articles. Rufo recognized 5 particular passages, totalling roughly 500 phrases, the place content material appeared to have been copied with out applicable quotation.Harris, who co-wrote the e-book throughout her tenure as San Francisco’s district lawyer, has refuted these allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated assaults designed to break her place within the 2024 presidential race. Whereas a evaluation acknowledged similarities in some sections describing programmes and statistical data, these had been thought to be minor quotation points quite than intentional plagiarism.
Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow on the conservative Manhattan Institute, shared his claims in an internet put up, citing the evaluation of Austrian plagiarism researcher Stefan Weber. Rufo pointed to 6 paragraphs inside the roughly 200-page e-book, co-written with Joan O’C. Hamilton, as proof of uncited materials. The e-book, printed in 2009 earlier than Harris turned California’s lawyer normal, targeted on coverage rooted in her expertise prosecuting severe crimes in San Francisco and Alameda County.
A CNN evaluation of the passages indicated that Harris and Hamilton did fail to appropriately attribute some sections to their unique sources. Specialists remarked that plagiarism entails utilizing another person’s phrases or concepts with out giving due credit score, even when a supply is cited, except the textual content is sufficiently paraphrased or instantly quoted. In response, Harris’s marketing campaign dismissed the allegations as a politically pushed assault. James Singer, a spokesperson for the marketing campaign, acknowledged that Good on Crime had been printed 15 years in the past and included citations and statistics all through in footnotes and endnotes.
Rufo has gained consideration for opposing range, fairness, and inclusion programmes, and has beforehand printed plagiarism accusations that contributed to the resignation of Harvard College President Claudine Homosexual. Rufo belongs to a free group of conservative writers and activists who’ve focused teachers, notably Black students concerned in range work, alleging plagiarism of their educational papers. His accusations in opposition to Harris counsel a shift in the direction of scrutinising political figures.
In his interview, Rufo defined that he and his collaborators had examined the work of round 300 authors, primarily from left-wing backgrounds, to discover what he describes as the speculation that “left-wing racialist ideology results in educational corruption.” Though he admitted to not investigating former President Donald Trump’s or Senator JD Vance‘s work, he emphasised that the group’s focus is on the educational output of these selling range and inclusion initiatives. Regardless of his group’s deal with left-leaning people, Rufo talked about that they didn’t discover proof of plagiarism within the grasp’s thesis of Tim Walz, Harris’s working mate.
Rufo cited an instance the place Harris and Hamilton allegedly used textual content from a press launch by the John Jay School of Prison Justice with out correct citation marks, though they did embody a quotation in a footnote. One other occasion concerned the supposed copying of language from an NBC Information article a few 2008 research on low commencement charges in metropolis faculties. Though the research was cited within the e-book, the NBC Information article was not, including weight to Rufo’s claims.
Harris’s marketing campaign reiterated that sources had been cited all through the e-book, and Singer dismissed Rufo’s allegations as determined makes an attempt to undermine Harris’s rising bipartisan help. Regardless of these accusations, no points have been raised concerning her later e-book, The Truths We Maintain.
JD Vance, Republican senator and vice-presidential candidate, was fast to touch upon the state of affairs, mocking Harris on social media and suggesting that she had not written her personal e-book. Vance additionally highlighted that he had personally authored his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
The incident has drawn comparisons to Joe Biden’s 1987 plagiarism scandal, which derailed his first presidential marketing campaign after it was revealed that he had borrowed from speeches by Neil Kinnock, Robert Kennedy, and Hubert Humphrey with out correct attribution. The controversy, coupled with educational dishonesty throughout his legislation faculty years, led to Biden withdrawing from the race. Nonetheless, Harris’s case seems extra restricted in scope, along with her staff sustaining that citations had been included the place crucial.
Plagiarism accusations should not unusual in political circles. Donald Trump confronted related allegations in 2020 when phrases from coverage papers had been stated to have been used with out quotation. Though his marketing campaign labelled these as quotation oversights, the accusations illustrated how plagiarism claims might be wielded as a political instrument throughout election campaigns.
