Harris’ Flips on Wall, EV Mandate ‘Natural’, But Need Explanations

On Wednesday's CNN News Central broadcast in Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson, who runs independent, said: But he's a Democrat.He said that Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' changes in position on the border wall and electric vehicle mandates are “a natural part of ebb and flow,” but that when she changes positions, “she needs to explain why she's evolved, why her position on that has changed.”

Co-host Sarah Sydnor asked, “I want to ask you about the politics of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been accused of shifting positions on a lot of different issues. Harris is talking about spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a wall on the southern border, which she said was un-American during the Trump administration. Harris is now saying she doesn't support an electric vehicle mandate. When she was a senator, she supported an eventual ban on gas-powered cars. Donald Trump banned TikTok and now he's in full support of it, demonized illegal immigrants and now says you should get a visa to go to college, there are a lot of issues where he's shifting positions. What do you think about shifting positions in this new political climate that we're in? Is it important or is it a way for candidates to show that they've evolved?”

Johnson responded, “Well, things are changing. I've been in elected politics for 21 years. This is my fifth year as mayor. The way I thought 21 years ago is not the way I think now. When you know better, you do better. You have different experiences, you receive new information, technology changes, you listen to people. So I think that's a natural part of ebb and flow. You need to explain why things have changed, why you're taking a different position on that, and that's what you should be doing. But I think Vice President Harris also has a track record, particularly here in Georgia as part of the Biden-Harris Administration, of bringing unprecedented funding directly to cities that cities like Savannah are grateful for.”