On September 16, David Kartvelishvili, a member of the “People’s Power” party, disseminated the claim that an ABC News employee, a whistleblower who allegedly exposed Kamala Harris for receiving a list of potential questions prior to the debate with Donald Trump, died in a “random” car accident. Kartvelishvili based his claim on a tweet by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Kartvelishvili’s statement was shared by various media outlets, including Imedi, POS TV, the media holding Kvira, the website nsp.ge, and the “People’s Power” Facebook page.
The claim that an ABC News employee died in a car accident after exposing that Kamala Harris had received debate questions in advance is false. This claim was initially spread by unreliable sources without evidence and was later repeated by Marjorie Taylor Greene. However, Greene later admitted that the story was untrue.
After the U.S. presidential debate organized by ABC News on September 10, 2024, a rumor circulated on social media claiming that an “ABC News whistleblower” had died in a car accident. This whistleblower allegedly claimed before the accident that Kamala Harris had received the debate questions in advance, giving her an advantage over former President Donald Trump.
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There is no “ABC News whistleblower”
There is no credible or verified information confirming the existence of an “ABC News whistleblower” who accused Kamala Harris of receiving debate questions in advance. Fact-checking platforms such as Snopes and The Daily Beast confirmed that this claim lacks any factual basis. Additionally, ABC News officials denied these rumors, emphasizing that both campaigns adhered to agreed-upon rules, including the condition that no questions or topics would be shared with any candidate in advance.
An ABC News spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the claim Harris received questions in advance was “absolutely false.” The spokesperson stated: “Harris did not receive any questions prior to the start of the debate.”
In an interview with Snopes, an ABC News representative reaffirmed that ABC News followed the debate rules, which were agreed upon by both campaigns and clearly stated that no topics or questions would be shared with the candidates beforehand.
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False claims about a car accident
Rumors about the whistleblower’s death in a car accident spread on social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter). On September 13, 2024, an account named Retro Coast (@RetroCoast) posted the claim that an “ABC whistleblower” had died in a car accident.
According to the post, the accident occurred early in the morning near Bethesda, Maryland. The tweet garnered over 300,000 views, but the user did not provide any evidence. After the tweet, the rumors spread widely, especially among users who were critical of Kamala Harris and ABC News. The claim gained further traction when, on September 15, American Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene shared the rumor with her followers on X.
Notably, within a few hours, Greene retracted her statement and posted a follow-up tweet stating:
This story appears to be false, and I’m glad to hear it.”
Upon investigation, fact-checking organizations such as Snopes and The Daily Beast determined that no legitimate or verifiable news outlets reported on any car accident involving an ABC whistleblower. Furthermore, publicly available traffic accident databases in Maryland did not contain any information about a car accident that matched the description and timeline given in the social media posts.
This baseless rumor appears to have originated from a blog post on CountyLocalNews.com. The website itself has no connections to legitimate news outlets. The article that helped spread the rumors was later deleted.
Archive links: People’s Power, David Kartvelishvili, kvira.ge, postv.media
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