Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday criticized Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump for “shifting his stance” on abortion, after the former president similarly criticized his rival, Vice President Harris, for changing her position on fracking.
“You have someone who changed their position four years ago, and then you compare that to Donald Trump, who has changed his position on abortion four times in the last 48 hours,” Schiff said on CNN's “State of the Union,” referring to Harris.
“To me, that's a much bigger issue, particularly when we're talking about abortion and the rights and freedoms of the American people, to have such disregard for the rights and freedoms of millions of American women, to be so indecisive, to be so two-faced, and to do that in just one day,” Schiff continued.
“That's the contrast here. And also, Dana, this is about values,” he told anchor Dana Bash. “This is about values. Changing his stance every 15 minutes on an issue like abortion rights essentially shows that he has no values.”
Trump has come under intense scrutiny in recent days for appearing to change his position on a Florida abortion bill that would guarantee a right to an abortion “before viability” around the 24th week of pregnancy.
President Trump signaled his opposition to the measure in a speech on Thursday. NBC News interview“I will be voting that we need more than six weeks,” he said.
But the Trump campaign appeared to walk back that statement, saying that Trump had not actually said how he would vote on the bill, but “simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short.”
However, the next day, Trump appeared on Fox News and said he would vote in favor of the measure. Apparently after confronting Conservative backlash over previous interviews.
But Harris' policy developments have also been gaining attention in recent days, especially since CNN's Dana Bash pursued her about her changing position on the fracking ban in her first interview of the campaign on Thursday.
Schiff, who is running for U.S. Senate in California, defended the former California senator against criticism of Harris's shifting position on the fracking ban, saying Harris' values have been consistent, reiterating an explanation he gave in an interview Thursday night.
“I support a ban on fracking and I strongly believe that the way to address climate change is to move away from fossil fuels,” Schiff said when asked if he was disappointed that Harris now opposes a ban on fracking.
“But I'm not the vice president of the United States, I'm not representing the country as a whole, so I think my perspective is different,” he continued, “but as the vice president pointed out, her values are consistent.”
Harris has pledged not to ban fracking if elected president, but said in an interview Thursday that “her values haven't changed.” Harris pointed to her role in passing the Inflation Beat Act, which she said contributed to a surge in renewable energy jobs.
“My experience as vice president tells me we can do that without banning fracking,” Harris said in an interview. “What I've seen is we can expand a growing and thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
Trump spokesman Steven Chan pushed back against Schiff's comments in an interview, attacking his character and using a nickname coined by the former president.
“Sly Schiff has no right to talk about morality given that he is one of the most vile and disgusting elected officials in Congress. He knows Comrade Kamala is a shifting character because she is the one who has lied about her positions on everything from fracking to the border to the Afghanistan fiasco,” Chang said in a statement, without evidence.
“This is even more disgusting gaslighting from a disgusting person with no conscience and no qualifications to be president,” he continued. “It's disgraceful!”
Trump has long targeted Schiff, who served as the lead prosecutor in his first impeachment trial and also served on the Jan. 6 select committee.
