Kamala Harris's story about wanting 'Fweedom' as a toddler has a familiar ring to it

Back in early October, ELLE did a profile of Kamala Harris, with the subhead (updated after Joe Biden’s victory) reading, “The woman who will become vice president on the fight for justice and freedom she’s been waging since birth.” Since birth? Wow.

More precisely, Harris had been waging the battle for justice and freedom since she was a toddler in a stroller. She told of how, at a civil rights rally, her mother asked her why she was fussing. What did she need? “Fweedom” was her answer.

Senator Kamala Harris started her life’s work young. She laughs from her gut, the way you would with family, as she remembers being wheeled through an Oakland, California, civil rights march in a stroller with no straps with her parents and her uncle. At some point, she fell from the stroller (few safety regulations existed for children’s equipment back then), and the adults, caught up in the rapture of protest, just kept on marching. By the time they noticed little Kamala was gone and doubled back, she was understandably upset. “My mother tells the story about how I’m fussing,” Harris says, “and she’s like, ‘Baby, what do you want? What do you need?’ And I just looked at her and I said, ‘Fweedom.’”

We know for a fact that Biden’s a plagiarist, but Harris’s story rang a bell with tweeter @EngelsFreddie, who found a similar exchange between a white policeman and a little girl whose only wish was “Fee-dom.”

So it turns out Kamala Harris lifted her "Fweedom" story from a 1965 Playboy interview with Martin Luther King, by Alex Haley. Much thanks to @EngelsFreddie for spotting the similarityhttps://t.co/zDONW4Ueqs pic.twitter.com/yQuWZHYEMz

— Q. Anthony (ɔpɛ asem) (@andraydomise) January 4, 2021

Maybe just a coincidence?

Finally, when I was 3, I got bit by a neighbor's dog and needed a couple of stitches. When I panicked at the dr's office, my mom tried to calm me, but I said, "Sociawized medicine would weeve me bweeding for hours."

Mom gave me a cookie, so it passed.

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) January 4, 2021

If this doesn't get me into a @TwitchyTeam thread, I might need to start telling these stories at @TownhallMedia meetings. Fair warning, @PolitiBunny.

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) January 4, 2021

You’ve got it, buddy.

Really looking forward to Kamala Harris's 'I have a dream" speech at the inaugural

— Tristan Johnson (@TristanPEJ) January 4, 2021

“I have a dweam”*

— mcconnell’s monkey paw ☭ (@breadlinebrunch) January 4, 2021

We live in hell.

— Mike Oldfield (@TheMikeOldfield) January 4, 2021

pic.twitter.com/Bd12t8BEMT

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) January 4, 2021

Is it possible that SHE was the little girl that King was referring to? If she had a Delorean, some plutonium and a flux capacitor of course? ???

— threwouttime (@threwouttime) January 4, 2021

Hey, she was listening to Tupac and Snoop Dogg before they ever released albums. Time is fluid with her.

Guess we know why Biden chose his running mate. He saw a lot of his own plagiarism in her.

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 4, 2021

Biden has been lifting stories for a long time, perfect match.

— VOTE AND DIE???‍?✊ (@Spooki_kabooki) January 4, 2021

amazing that baby Kamala Harris talking about “Fweedom” went on to become a cop pic.twitter.com/A9Os20ieqe

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) January 4, 2021

* * *

Update:

She used the anecdote in her 2010 book as well:

Kamala Harris plagiarized the "Fweedom" story in her 2010 book "Smart On Crime."https://t.co/GztrctggWb pic.twitter.com/ES531f59YD

— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) January 5, 2021

Related:

HOAX WATCH: Kamala Harris' press secretary has a 'crazy story' he wants you to believe about a SC voter in a MAGA hat https://t.co/KChauN2A5E

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 9, 2019