Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign has dismissed allegations of plagiarism in a book she co-authored in 2009, calling it a partisan attempt by right-wing operatives to sway the election. Conservative activist Christopher Rufo claimed there were instances of copied material in Harris’ book, citing an investigation by Austrian “plagiarism hunter” Stefan Weber. The examples pointed out by Rufo amount to about 500 words out of the 65,000-word book and include statistics and processes that were not properly paraphrased or quoted. Harris’ campaign attributed the accusations to Republican efforts to halt her momentum before the election. Plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey noted that the alleged instances of plagiarism were likely due to sloppy writing habits rather than intentional fraud, common in the early 2000s when the book was published. Other prominent figures, including Melania Trump, Joe Biden, and Neil Gorsuch, have faced similar accusations in the past. Rufo, the activist behind the allegations, was also involved in a campaign to force former Harvard University President Claudine Gay to resign on plagiarism charges, amidst criticism over her handling of campus protests and allegations of antisemitism.
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