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Vice President Kamala Harris faced criticism from CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale for stating that she had made it clear as early as 2020 that she would not impose a ban on fracking if she became vice president.
In her first interview since emerging as the Democratic nominee, CNN host Dana Bash questioned Harris on Thursday night about how her policies have changed throughout her career. When Harris was in Congress in 2019, she firmly supported a ban on fracking through the Green New Deal. She was questioned about when she changed her position about fracking as a means of obtaining fossil fuels.
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Bash inquired of Harris about a statement she made in 2019, where she said, there is no question. I’m in favor of banning fracking. Given that fracking is a significant issue, particularly in the must-win state of Pennsylvania, Harris was asked if she still supported a ban on fracking.
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Harris responded by stating, No, and clarified that she had made it clear during the 2020 debate that she would not ban fracking as vice president and would not do so as president.
Bash pressed the matter further, recalling that in 2019, during a town hall, Harris had been asked if she would commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking on her first day in office, to which Harris had responded, There’s no question. Yes, I support outlawing hydraulic fracturing.
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Harris reaffirmed that she made that very clear—that is, that she altered her position during that 2020 campaign and would still be in favor of fracking in 2024. Dale informed host Abby Phillip that the claim was untrue in a post-interview conversation.
It was stated that the fact check bottom line was that Harris had not clearly indicated during a 2020 debate that she had reversed her previous support for a fracking ban. It was then explained that the sequence of events would be reviewed, beginning with what she said at a CNN climate town hall in 2019 regarding a fracking ban. Next, a 2019 video of Harris saying there was no question that she was in favor of banning fracking was shown by Dale and CNN.
Dale added that Harris ended her 2020 presidential campaign in December 2019. He pointed out that she only took part in one debate in 2020, which was with Vice President Mike Pence for the general election. After looking over the debate transcript, Dale noted that Harris had reaffirmed that Biden the front-runner for the Democratic nomination at the time—would not ban fracking, without making it apparent that she had given up on her earlier support for such a policy.
The fact-checker then played back a portion of the argument to support his claim.
Dale added that it made perfect sense for Harris to have been speaking on behalf of Biden at that time, emphasizing that it is the president, not the vice president, who sets administration policy. However, he acknowledged that others might have different interpretations. He also noted that nowhere in the debate did he hear Kamala Harris personally abandon her previously expressed 2019 view; rather, she was once again speaking for Joe Biden.
This coincides with several fresh polls suggesting that Harris’s recent surge following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of his reelection campaign last month is coming to a stop. A Neapolitan Institute poll conducted this past Friday indicates that Trump is once again leading, matching the edge he had over Biden before the Democrats switching their allegiance to Harris.
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