It’s not clear to us what Trump was “looking at” and the White House did not respond to our questions. However, July 15 was a Federal Election Commission filing deadline for quarterly campaign expenditure reports.

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On Oct. 25, 2024, Beyoncé spoke in support of Harris during a Houston campaign rally. Days later, we rated False a social media post that said Beyoncé was paid $10 million for her speech at Harris’ event. Beyoncé’s publicist said the claim was “beyond ridiculous.” Beyonce did not perform during the rally.

Federal Election Commission disbursements data shows Harris’ campaign paid $165,000 to Beyoncé’s production company, Parkwood Production Media, LLC. The payment disbursed Nov. 19, 2024, was described as a “campaign event production” expense.

Harris for President made no $11 million payments — to anyone. And there are no other payments by the 2024 Harris campaign to Beyoncé, her production company, or her publicist’s name or company.

A Harris spokesperson told Deadline in 2024 that the campaign never paid fees to an artist or performer, but that FEC rules require campaigns to pay for some “ancillary costs.”

Federal law restricts corporations from contributing to elections or campaigns. And although a performer may appear for free, the campaign may pay for costs related to staging, venue or other equipment.

We reached out to Beyoncé’s publicist and Harris’ office, but did not receive a response.

Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother and former manager, in November rebutted the claims her daughter was paid for the event, writing on Instagram that, “Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking” and “actually paid for her own flights for her and her team, and total Glam.”

Trump also wasn’t right about it being illegal for a political candidate to pay for an endorsement. 

Myles Martin, deputy press officer for the Federal Election Commission, pointed PolitiFact to a campaign disbursement page on how campaigns can spend their funds, which includes using funds “to influence the federal election of the candidate.” The page does not list any laws that say a candidate can’t pay for endorsements; candidates are legally required to report payments. 

We rate Trump’s statement that Democrats paid Beyoncé $11 million for an endorsement False.

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