Crossroads -- Kamala Harris and the "Jesus is Lord" hecklers

In the smartphone journalism era, not all protest stories are created equal

Once upon a time, a MAGA-hat adorned teen at the annual March for Life — Nicholas Sandmann, by name — offered an enigmatic smile while a Native American activist pounded a drum in his face.

That iconic standoff near the Lincoln Memorial inspired a hurricane of press coverage, with some critics accusing Sandmann and other Catholic school students of racism. Many saw a smug, sarcastic grin instead of a stunned, polite smile and many critics said Sandmann deserved to be punched in the face or worse.

In the end, The Washington Post settled the teen-ager’s $250 million defamation lawsuit — after a series of smartphone videos revealed that the confrontation was much, much more complicated than the first rush-to-judgement headlines. CNN settled with Sandmann, as well.

The bottom line: Mainstream journalists were certain that this Donald Trump-era incident was a big news story and used oceans of digital ink while covering it.

During this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, I argued that the Sandmann parable was relevant to discussions of a recent religion-and-politics story that broke — sort of — during the tense White House race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Does this headline ring a bell? “‘Jesus Is Lord’ — Pro-Life College Students Say Kamala Harris Mocked Them As They Were Kicked Out of Rally.” That headline is from a Christian news source, of course. The mainstream press offered little or no coverage of this colorful incident during Harris rally remarks about abortion.

Was this a “real” news story? Here is the top of a feature at The Dispatch that ran with this headline: “Did Kamala Harris Tell Hecklers They Were ‘At the Wrong Rally’?”

Prominent social media users are claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris told attendees at a campaign event, “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally,” in response to hecklers shouting “Jesus is Lord.”

“Christians need to remember this” one user posted to Threads.

There is no dispute over whether Harris said what was claimed. A video clip from a Harris campaign rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, … shows her saying those exact words, and her own campaign’s official rapid response account, “Kamala HQ,” shared the clip of Harris responding to what it called “MAGA hecklers.”

However, it is unclear what heckler remarks Harris was addressing with her comments. While some outlets reported that Harris was responding to shouts of “lies,” others have said her comment came in response to religious-oriented comments.

Catholic Vote, a nonprofit political advocacy group, shared the clip on X. “Kamala Harris exposes her vile hatred toward Christians once again by ridiculing a rally goer for invoking the name of God,” the group captioned in its tweet.

What does the smartphone-era evidence show? Click here for a surprisingly balanced Snopes.com study of the online discussions.

No one doubts that Harris used “wrong rally” language in her response to the protestors.

No one doubts that her comment followed audible shouts proclaiming “Jesus is Lord!” and “Christ is King!”

No one doubts that the two young men whose shouts led to security personnel removing them from the rally claim that Harris was looking at them and pointing at them when she offered her blunt response. Did one of them actually show her the cross hanging around his neck? That claim would be worthy of study in alternative smartphone videos (if journalists care to look).

The question, in the Snopes report, is whether there is evidence backing the “lies, lies” claim from the White House and the Harris campaign team.

In our analysis of the clip, we noted Harris did say, "Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally," immediately after two male voices shouted, "Christ is King" and "Jesus is Lord," and a third voice, apparently female, seemed to shout, "That's a lie." 

However, the latter words are indistinct in both this and other clips (embedded below) documenting the incident. It's plausible the person yelled something else that rhymed with "lie" — "Bye! Bye! Goodbye!" for example, perhaps meant for the ears of the protesters.

This was a highly symbolic clash in a tight race in which religious, moral and cultural issues — especially those linked to abortion — have made headlines week after week.

Thus, I will end with these questions:

(1) The mainstream press was absolutely sure that the Sandmann-MAGA kid story was worthy of in-depth, front-page coverage based on emerging smartphone recordings. Why?

(2) The mainstream press is absolutely sure the “Jesus is Lord!” protestors story is not worthy of serious coverage, no matter what evidence emerges from witnesses and in the many smartphone recordings of the incident. Why?

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