No, Maj. Gen. Higginbotham did not write an article criticizing Kamala Harris’ background

During election season, it’s easy for misinformation to spread online. Many VERIFY readers sent us a post that’s been repeatedly shared on social media and via email forwards, asking the VERIFY team to look into its authenticity.

The post, which is often shared as an article titled “The History of Kamala Harris,” purports to be authored by a Marine Corps general, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey B. Higginbotham, and claims to reveal extensive communist ties in Vice President Harris’ background.

THE QUESTION

Is “The History of Kamala Harris” a real article by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Higginbotham?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, “The History of Kamala Harris” is not a real article by Maj. Gen. Higginbotham

WHAT WE FOUND

The alleged editorial has never been published by any news outlets or shared by any legitimate organizations. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Higginbotham confirmed to VERIFY that he never wrote it. 

It appears to exist solely in social media posts, forwarded emails, and several obscure blogs, usually run anonymously.

The text first made the rounds several years ago during the 2020 election and has recently resurfaced, occasionally with different titles and slight variations in the text.

VERIFY contacted Maj. Gen. Higginbotham, who told us via email, “Emphatically, I AM NOT THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE!”

In his statement, Higginbotham also said: “My identity was stolen by an unknown person who associated my name and reputation to give credence to someone else’s article about Harris. Not only did the perpetrator falsify the document by adding my name as author, but he/she searched the internet to locate, copy, and attach my bio and a 20 year old photo of me in uniform. Re-posting this information is considered slanderous because it is impacting the reputation I earned after selflessly serving 33 years in the Marine Corps with character, honor, and loyalty.

So where did the text come from?

Early iterations of this article are not attributed to Higginbotham, but instead to different authors.

One early version published in 2020, shortly before the presidential election, used mostly identical language to the viral version and was authored by a retired Navy captain, Joseph R. John.

John runs a small political action committee called Combat Veterans for Congress, which usually raises about $50,000 each year for Republican candidates. On the PAC’s website, John publishes his own opinion pieces, including one titled “Kamala Harris Close Ties with Marxists, Communists, Maoists, and Socialists.”

Another titled “The Sinister Background of The Kamala Harris Who Is Communist China's US Dream President” uses different language but repeats many of the same claims.

Neither article claims Higginbotham as an author or a source, or mentions the general in any way. 

The only source cited in either post is an article by Trevor Loudon, a right-wing conspiracy theorist from New Zealand. He’s published multiple articles and videos about Harris with the same claims about her past, but he’s also never mentioned Higginbotham in any of them.

It’s unclear why or when Higginbotham’s name was first attached to the inflammatory posts.