No, the Atlantic didn’t publish a story calling for Harris to steal the election

On Oct. 15, multiple people on X, including Republican Rep. Chip Roy, claimed the news magazine The Atlantic published an article titled: “To Save Democracy Harris May Need To Steal An Election.”

“Wow. They are now openly saying the Democrats plan on stealing the election,” said one post that included an image appearing to show The Atlantic’s masthead above a headline calling for Vice President Kamala Harris to steal the election.

Some people who commented on the post questioned if the article was actually real.

THE QUESTION

Did The Atlantic publish an article titled: “To Save Democracy Harris May Need To Steal An Election”?

THE SOURCES

• The Atlantic
• An article published by The Atlantic on Oct. 6, 2021 
• RevEye, a reverse image search tool

THE ANSWER

No, The Atlantic did not publish an article titled: “To Save Democracy Harris May Need To Steal An Election.”

Sign up for the VERIFY Fast Facts daily Newsletter!

WHAT WE FOUND

The Atlantic did not publish an article titled: “To Save Democracy Harris May Need To Steal An Election,” like viral posts on X falsely claim.

“This headline is fabricated. No such article has ever been published by The Atlantic,” the news magazine wrote in an Oct. 15 press release that was published on its website.

The fake headline circulating on social media distorts the headline of a real article published by The Atlantic on Oct. 6, 2021, which was titled: “Kamala Harris Might Have to Stop the Steal.”

VERIFY was unable to find who created the image of the fake headline.

This isn’t the first time a fabricated Atlantic headline has been widely shared online.

In June 2022, people shared an image with a fake headline that read, “The Heroism of Biden’s Bike Fall,” after President Joe Biden fell while trying to dismount his bicycle. The Atlantic also told VERIFY in August 2022 that it never published an article with a headline that read, “The Quiet Courage of Biden’s Negative Growth Economy,” like viral posts claimed.

“Anyone encountering these images can quickly verify whether something is real –– or not –– by visiting The Atlantic and searching our site,” The Atlantic says.