Fact Check: Elissa Slotkin Falsely Claims Biden-Harris EV Mandate She Voted to Protect Does Not Exist

CLAIM: Rep Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) claimed during Monday night’s U.S. Senate debate in Michigan that “there is no EV [electric vehicle] mandate,” and she is indifferent to whether Americans drive EVs or gas-powered vehicles.

VERDICT: False. Rep. Slotkin has voted to protect the Biden-Harris administration’s radical electric vehicle mandate to phase out gas-powered automobiles.

Slotkin claimed she does not “care what kind of car” Michiganders drive during her debate with former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) hosted by WXYZ.

However, Slotkin has repeatedly voted for EV mandates or against measures that would prevent states from installing them. As recently as September, Slotkin voted against legislation to roll back the Biden-Harris administration’s rule requiring most new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be hybrids or EVs by 2032.

Moreover, Slotkin, in September 2023, voted against legislation that would block states from setting limitations on the number of gas-powered vehicles sold. That vote came during a United Auto Workers strike, with Democrats’ push for EVs being a driver of the strike.

Rogers called out Slotkin Monday night for her false claim, saying she “voted for the EV mandate at least three times and, as soon as about four weeks ago, doubled down on her position on EV mandates.”

“I’m telling you, it is ruining our car industry. Five thousand auto dealers wrote an open letter to the Biden administration and said, ‘You are killing the car business. Please stop with the EV mandates,'” he added.

Slotkin doubled down on her lie during a rebuttal.

“There is no EV mandate. I don’t care what you want to drive. It does not matter to me,” she claimed.