In her first interview as the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris asserted that her values have not changed, citing her work to promote the Green New Deal.
“The most important and significant thing about my policy views and my decisions is that my values haven't changed,” Harris told CNN's Dana Bash on Thursday. “You talked about the Green New Deal, but I've always believed and committed to the idea that the climate crisis is real and that it's an urgent issue that requires deadlines and other standards.”
But Harris' comments are at odds with a statement her campaign released last week saying she “does not support an electric vehicle mandate,” a key element of the progressive climate change policy she claims she still supports, as well as her support for “standards that include meeting time-based deadlines.”
Then the news media Axios has reached out to the Harris campaign. Harris' campaign responded to Axios' request for comment last week, but declined to comment on the story. Fox News Digital also reached out to Harris' campaign repeatedly to clarify whether her lack of support for an electric vehicle mandate, a policy measure she has repeatedly promoted, aligns with her values. Fox News Digital did not receive a response.
Fewer Americans want to buy EVs, even as Biden pushes for the strongest climate change regulations in history
Harris supports the Green New Deal, which includes a mandate for electric vehicles, and during her time as a senator, she also introduced a bill to establish a “National Zero Emission Vehicle Standard” that would require all passenger cars to be electric by 2040. Meanwhile, as a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris advocated for a policy to mandate an even earlier phase-out of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. After the Biden-Harris win in 2020, Harris also said: By 2030, all new medium and heavy-duty vehicles will be “zero-emission”.
A Tesla charges at an electric vehicle charging station in New York.
“The American people don't want top-down, one-size-fits-all energy and climate policy like a federal EV mandate,” said Chris Bernard, president of the American Conservation Union, a nonprofit environmental group that focuses on limited government power and conservative approaches to environmental issues.
“We should pursue a full-scale energy dominance strategy that prioritizes affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy solutions, rooted in American innovation and competition with China. From nuclear power to permitting reform, this energy dominance agenda aims to address both environmental and economic concerns and make America the cleanest, most prosperous country in the world.”
Bernard added that Harris' “back and forth” on an important issue like America's energy future is “neither productive nor persuasive.”
Harris' electric vehicle push takes another blow as automakers pull out: 'unwanted and unviable'
Vice President Kamala Harris
In addition to shifting her position on the electric vehicle mandate, Harris has come under fire for making similar shifts on issues including the border, health care and fracking.
For example, in her first interview as a Democratic candidate on Thursday, Vice President Harris stressed that she would enforce the law against illegal border crossings, even though she has said in the past that she opposes prosecuting immigrants who cross the border illegally.
Harris made similar comments during a nationally televised presidential debate in 2019, and as California's attorney general in 2015, she told the San Francisco Chronicle that “illegal immigrants are not criminals.” He posted the allegations on social media.And during a 2019 episode of “The View” during a spat with Meghan, the daughter of the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, Harris reiterated her position.
'For election purposes': Critics push back against Harris' claim to 'enforce our laws' at southern border
California Attorney General Harris also instructed local law enforcement agencies not to comply with ICE requests to detain people who have committed crimes and crossed the border illegally until they can be taken into custody by federal immigration authorities.
As a U.S. Senator, Harris Cutting funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); And she had done it before He compared ICE to the Ku Klux Klan..
Former President Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and the border wall lined up.
With regards to medical care, Harris campaign official The vice president has said he doesn't support Medicare for All, but Harris has yet to publicly state that she doesn't support a single-payer health care system after suggesting during a 2019 debate that she would “abolish” private health care in favor of a “government-run plan.” Fox News Digital reached out to Harris' campaign earlier this week to clarify her position on health care but did not receive a response.
In an interview with CNN last week, Harris also said: Revealed Despite stating as a 2019 presidential candidate that he was “in favor” of banning fracking on federal lands, as a 2020 vice presidential candidate he indicated he did not want to ban fracking.
Harris claims she “clarified” her position on fracking in 2020 — records tell a different story
Politico changed the headline to focus on Vice President Harris' position on fracking.
Harris' supporters have responded to Republican criticism, which has blasted her policy shift, by arguing it's a natural shift that shows she's a good leader, and have blamed Trump for her change in stance on abortion.
“The idea that she's been inconsistent — what about her shifting positions on Donald Trump? What about her shifting positions on abortion?” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said in an interview with NBC News. “Meet the Press” “I think the vice president has been consistent in his position on fracking. That's just the Joe Biden way.”
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“I think that's the mark of a good leader to take time to learn and evolve,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Sunday. ABC News' “This Week.”
