During her first sit-down interview as the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris faced scrutiny over her past statements on fracking, with a CNN fact-checker challenging her assertion that she had clearly evolved her stance on the issue.
In Congress, Harris was a vocal supporter of the Green New Deal and, in 2019, expressed unequivocal support for banning fracking. When asked by CNN anchor Dana Bash if she still held that position, Harris responded, “No,” adding, “And I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020. That I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking.”
However, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale took issue with Harris’ claim, stating, “The fact-check bottom line, Abby, is that she did not actually make clear at a 2020 debate that she had changed her previous support for a fracking ban.”
To support his point, CNN aired a 2019 clip of Harris at a climate town hall where she was asked if she would support a federal fracking ban. Harris responded with a firm, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”
Harris ended her presidential campaign later that year in December 2019. Dale pointed out that the only debate Harris participated in during 2020 was the general election debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence. He reviewed the transcript of that debate, noting, “Nowhere in there does she make clear she’d abandoned her previous support of a fracking ban.
Rather, she repeated that Joe Biden, the head of the Democratic ticket at the time, himself wouldn’t ban fracking.” CNN played a clip from that debate, where Harris echoed Biden’s position on fracking but did not clarify her own stance.
Dale concluded, “Maybe other people feel differently, but I certainly do not hear in there, Kamala Harris, that she personally abandoned her previously expressed 2019 view. Rather that she was speaking for Joe Biden.” The exchange has fueled debate over Harris’ consistency on environmental issues as she navigates her campaign for the presidency.