Harris claims ad quoting her 2019 vow to ban fracking is 'mischaracterization' to make people 'afraid' of her

Vice President Kamala Harris argued this week that an ad showing a clip of her past rhetoric about fracking is misleading and "intended to make people afraid of my presidency."

CBS Pittsburgh's Jon Delano spoke with Harris in an interview on Tuesday, challenging her to clarify her evolving stance on fracking, one of many key issues where she has been accused of flip-flopping for political gain.

"I wanted to ask you, there’s a political ad on TV from a 2019 climate hall town meeting that you had, in which you basically said, quote, ‘There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,’ unquote," the interviewer said. "The ad claims that if you are elected president you will ban fracking and you will cost Pennsylvania over 300,000 jobs. Have you changed your view on fracking, and if so, why?"

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"So let me start by saying that that ad, as you described it, is absolutely a mischaracterization, that I think is intended to make people afraid of my presidency," Harris said. 

"Let me be absolutely clear, as I’ve been when I said it back in 2020, I will not ban fracking. I did not as vice president. In fact, I cast the tie-breaking vote to open up more fracking leases," she added, referencing her role as vice president in getting the so-called Inflation Reduction Act through the deadlocked Senate.

In 2020, Harris was asked about fracking during her vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence, but did not reveal a reversal of her stated 2019 opposition to fracking, instead simply saying that Biden would not ban fracking as president.

"Joe Biden will not end fracking. He has been very clear about that," Harris said.

"I will repeat and the American people know that Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact. That is a fact," she added during another portion of the debate. 

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On Tuesday, Harris said, "My perspective on this is grounded in a number of things, including that we don't have to ban fracking to do the work that we can do to also invest in a clean energy economy."

She then made multiple promises to American voters.

"I'm going to bring jobs back to rural communities. I'm going to make sure that we invest in those communities that have done the kind of work that you have in mind when you talk about Pittsburgh, when you talk about the greater aspect of Pennsylvania," she pledged. "And I'm going to keep doing that work."

"That's where I stand, period. As President of the United States, I will not ban fracking," Harris said.