What we can VERIFY about exchange between Kamala Harris and protesters at Wisconsin rally

During a campaign event on Oct. 17 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris briefly paused as protesters shouted toward the stage. Then, in a now-viral moment, she quipped that the hecklers were “at the wrong rally,” in an apparent reference to a nearby Trump rally.  

Many have claimed that the protesters shouted religious messages and that Harris’ response was anti-Christian. Several VERIFY readers sent us questions to ask what the protesters said before Harris responded, noting that it was difficult to make out what was said from the clip they had seen.

Here’s what we can VERIFY about what the protesters said during the rally.

THE SOURCES

WHAT WE FOUND

Vice President Kamala Harris did quip that anti-abortion protesters who heckled her were “at the wrong rally.”

The protesters were shouting both anti-abortion and pro-Christian phrases at the time Harris responded to them.

Harris addressed the protesters shortly after she spoke about former President Donald Trump’s selection of Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, between 18:30 and 19:30 of C-SPAN’s recording of the rally.

“Because ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom — for freedom — like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do,” Harris said. “And, again, we’re not going to be gaslighted on this.  We remember Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended.”

During an on-air interview with Fox News, one of the two protesters, Luke Polaske, said he shouted in response to this part of Harris’ speech.

“After she talked about overturning Roe v. Wade and Donald Trump, I yelled out to the crowd ‘abortion is a sacrament to Satan,’” Polaske told Fox News.

Polaske said there was another 10 seconds before Polaske and his friend began shouting “Christ is king” and “Jesus is lord.”

Those phrases are clearly heard in this clip recorded from the crowd by Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith and appear to be said around the same time Harris was finishing her above quote about abortion and the Supreme Court. Harris can then be heard saying, “oh, you guys are at the wrong rally.”

In the official recording of the rally available from C-SPAN in which the camera is primarily focused on the stage, it’s hard to make out exactly what the protesters were shouting from the crowd. In that recording, it sounds vaguely like someone is shouting “lies” when Harris pauses at this point. The official White House transcript of the event says the audience member shouted, “Lies. Lies. That’s a lie.”

After Harris tells them they’re at the wrong rally, she smiles, laughs and waves to people off-camera. Polaske told Fox News that Harris was waving at him. Harris then said, “No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street,” apparently referring to a Trump rally.

In Meredith’s video, the two protesters appear to be walking through the crowd and toward the exit. 

Polaske told Fox News that he and his friend were “getting shouted out, pushed, assaulted, screamed at,” so they were walking away. Polaske claimed that three attendee volunteers at the event kicked them out, and that one man told them they were “unwelcomed” and “uninvited” to the event. The volunteers walked the two out, Polaske said.

What exactly Harris could see and hear from her vantage point on stage is unclear.

VERIFY reached out to the Harris campaign but did not receive comment prior to publishing.