https://www.axios.com/2024/09/04/kamala-harris-campaign-ev-mandate
By Alex Thompson, & Ben Geman
Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign won’t say whether she supports requiring automakers to build only electric or hydrogen vehicles by 2035 — a position she took during her 2020 campaign for president.
Why it matters: Since taking over President Biden’s campaign in July, Harris has been light on policy details.
- Harris’ campaign has said she no longer supports many of her past progressive positions and has embraced more centrist stances on health care, immigration, gun control and fracking.
- Even so, Donald Trump‘s campaign has focused on footage from Harris’ 2020 campaign to attack her as “dangerously liberal.”
Driving the news: Harris’ campaign has sent contradictory signals about her position on a mandate for automakers — a key issue in pivotal Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where many autoworkers are based.
- In a lengthy “fact-check” email last week that covered several issues, a campaign spokesperson included a line saying that Harris “does not support an electric vehicle mandate” — suggesting she changed her previous position, without elaborating.
- On Aug. 28 Axios asked the Harris campaign to clarify her position, and whether she would sign or veto a bill she co-sponsored in 2019 that included such a mandate for manufacturers.
- On Tuesday afternoon, Harris’ campaign ultimately declined to comment.
New: the Harris campaign wrote in an email that she “does not support an electric vehicle mandate.”
I asked if that meant she would veto or sign the bill she co-sponsored in 2019 w/ such a mandate for manufacturers.
The campaign declined to commenthttps://t.co/ogOwDdDD99
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 4, 2024
