A video, where the recitation of Indian Vedic chants can be heard, is being shared on social media with a claim that Vice President-elect of the United States, Kamala Harris, started her term as the new VP with chanting of shlokas.
“Kamala Harris started her first day in office as Vice-President of the USA with mantras and pooja,” the post claimed.

Here’s the link to the above post.
More such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.

FACT CHECK 

NewsMobile fact-checked the video and found that the claim attached to it is false.
Firstly, we checked the official website of the United States Government and found that the  Vice President-elect of the United States, Kamala Harris, is yet to assume office.
According to the website of Joint Congressional Committee on the Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), who looks after the preparation of the Inauguration Day (when the President-elect of the US takes oath), the Vice President-elect will step forward on the Inaugural platform and repeat the oath of office, just before the President.

According to a report by the Washington Post, both the Vice President-elect and President-elect will take Oaths of Office on January 20, 2021.

As for the video, on November 23, 2020, NewsMobile debunked the same video which was being shared as the first day of Joe Biden in office.
Here’s what we found:
A simple keyword search led us to a YouTube with similar setting from 2014. ‘Vedic Chanting White House,’ the caption read.

The video was uploaded by HASC Hindu American Seva Communities. On examining the YouTube video carefully, we noticed that at 1:16 of the video, a subtext appears on the screen, which read, “Hindu American Seva Communities conference @White House Oct 2, 2014.”

We also compared the YouTube video to the one shared on Facebook to confirm that they are of the same event. In both the videos, the same people can be seen on the podium and the projection screen is also the same.

Once, we established that both the videos are of the same event, we ran a keyword search which led us to a Press Release from the same event.

According to the press note, the event that took place on October 2, 2014, marked the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
We also reached out to Hindu American Seva Communities via Facebook, who then confirmed to us that the video in circulation is old. “[This event] took place a few years ago,” they told NewsMobile.
Hence, from the above fact check, it is clear that the video in circulation is OLD and the post is false.

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