Tipsheet

CNN Fact-Check Calls Out Kamala Harris for Her Lies on Fracking

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 24, 2024 11:15 AM

On Wednesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a CNN town hall. That same night, CNN put out a fact-check, one which touched upon a subject that has continuously been a thorn in Harris' side: her stance on fracking.

As an attendee brought up to Harris, "much of what you have been saying with regard to issues like law and order and fracking reflect a more centrist view than what people are used to hearing from Kamala Harris, leaving some voters to wonder about the authenticity of your current, more moderate positions." He then asked her, "can you talk a little bit about how your positions have shifted, and why?" 

When addressing fracking, Harris even took a bit of a tone, claiming "I have been very clear" and "we kind of dispensed with this in 2020" as part of her response.

She even spoke to how "frankly, I now have the experience and perspective of having been vice president for almost four years. I have traveled the country," emphasizing "I've traveled the country" to claim "I know that we can invest in a clean energy economy and still not ban fracking."

Moderator Anderson Cooper brought up fracking on his own following that response, as he reminded her, the audience, and the viewers that Harris did, while running for president for the 2020 cycle, say during a 2019 town hall that "there's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking." Harris still took issue with his points, though, as she had claimed, "I pledged that I would not ban fracking."

Recommended

These Two New Polls Show Really Bad News for Kamala in Her Race Against Trump Rebecca Downs
Alarming Video Shows Democrat Tampering With Ballot Box in Montana Madeline Leesman

Cooper brought it up as a way to ask if this position, and her other flip-flops were positions she's "evolved on," looking to provide her with a sort of lifeline. Even then, Harris still went to battle against Cooper, as she bragged about a plan and "the work that I have done."

The discussion on fracking was perhaps the most brutal part of the fact-check on Harris:

Facts First: This is false. Harris did not make her personal position on fracking clear during her only debate in 2020, the general election’s vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence. Harris never explicitly stated a personal position on fracking during that debate.

Rather, she said that Joe Biden, the head of the Democratic ticket at the time, would not ban fracking if he was elected president. Harris said during the 2020 vice presidential debate: “Joe Biden will not end fracking,” and “I will repeat, and the American people know, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking.”

When Harris did reference her own views on fracking earlier in the cycle during the Democratic presidential primary in 2019, she went so far as to say that “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

It made sense that Harris was addressing Biden’s plans at the time given that the president sets administration policy. But contrary to her claim on Wednesday, neither of her 2020 debate comments made clear that she personally held a different view on the subject than she had the year prior.

While on CNN that same night, fact-checker Daniel Dale also emphasized, "it is not true that Harris pledged in 2020 that she would not ban fracking as president." Rather, those comments came in her vice presidential debate in 2020 against then Vice President Mike Pence. "But here's the thing about that debate: nowhere in it did Harris say she had changed her own 2019 support for a fracking ban," Dale continued, also stressing that her remarks were about President Joe Biden, then the top of the ticket. 

That being said, CNN still missed out on the opportunity to fact-check Harris on her claims about January 6, specifically how "some [law enforcement officers] were killed." This is a false claim Harris has made repeatedly, including last week in Wisconsin where she was campaigning instead of showing up for the Al Smith dinner to benefit Catholic Charities.

No officers were "killed." One person, Ashli Babbit, was shot and killed by Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd. Officer Brian Sicknick died on January 7, with the medical examiner revealing it was due to natural causes after he had suffered two strokes.