Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio told voters in battleground states that Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris was running a “copycat campaign” after her staff revealed she was changing her positions on several key policies, including an electric vehicle mandate.
Vance held a campaign event in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, where he spoke about the U.S. trucking industry, energy policy and the economy.
The Republican senator criticized the electric vehicle mandate, arguing that Harris “want to raise the price of diesel fuel, raise the price of gasoline and make every truck driver in this country drive an electric vehicle.”
Harris led the Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan in December 2021, with the goal of making 50% of auto sales electric by 2030. Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration has finalized one of its latest plans. Environmental Regulations It will require half of all new car and truck sales to be electric by 2024.
'Political maneuvering': Harris fends off shifting attacks as faceless surrogates shift key positions
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) speaks at a campaign event in Big Rapids, Michigan, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (Al Goldis)
Amar Moosa, emergency operations director for the Harris campaign, wrote in a “fact-check email” on Tuesday that the vice president “does not support an EV mandate,” despite his past calls for expanding EV sales.
“If you look at her campaign over the last week and a half, she's pretending to agree with Donald J. Trump on every issue. She's running a copycat campaign,” Vance told the crowd.
Harris campaign staff said in recent weeks that the vice president has changed his stance on several key issues, including fracking, assault rifle buyback programs, the border wall and Medicare for All.
“Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, thinks truck drivers should be put out of business, that every truck driver should learn to code,” Vance said in Pennsylvania. “If we forced every good truck driver to buy an electric truck instead of the truck they have now, that would make the inflation crisis even worse than it is now.”
Israelis speaking to Fox News Digital offered a range of views on what Harris' presidency means for Israelis. (Kenny Halston)
The senator added that a Trump-Vance administration “will put an end to stupid, job-killing regulations like the EV mandate.”
“If America's truck drivers can't do the job they do best, our economy can't function,” he said.
In response to accusations that she is copying Trump's policies, a Harris campaign spokesman highlighted several key policy areas where the two campaigns clearly differ.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. (Evan Vucci)
“Unlike Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, VP Harris will support abortion rights instead of taking away them, cut middle-class taxes instead of raising them by nearly $4,000, and unite Americans instead of dividing them,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Most importantly, VP Harris opposes Donald Trump and J.D. Vance's dangerous Project 2025 policies.”
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Vance's speech in Pennsylvania marks the campaign's latest battleground state action, coming a day after he addressed rural voters in Big Rapids, Michigan.
