Kamala Harris Fails to Answer Questions About Flip-Flopping on Electric Vehicle Mandates

US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the s
Mahka Eslami/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP

Vice President Kamala Harris refuses to answer why her presidential campaign claimed that she “does not support” Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates after years of supporting such mandates during her tenure in the White House and as a senator representing California.

As Breitbart News reported, Harris’s campaign sent an email last week to supporters claiming, “Vice President Harris does not support an electric vehicle mandate.” That claim comes after years of Harris championing, campaigning for, and promoting EV mandates.

On Wednesday, Harris’s campaign refused to answer questions from Axios about why they have claimed she does not support EV mandates while backing President Joe Biden’s EV mandates.

Axios reports:

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.

As a Senator in 2019 Harris cosponsored Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-OR) “Zero Emissions Act” to require all new passenger vehicles sold in the United States market be EVs or hydrogen-powered cars by 2040.

Likewise, while running in the Democrat presidential primary in 2019, Harris detailed her plans to abolish sales of gas-powered cars by 2035 and ensure that Americans can only purchase EVs when looking for a new car.

“[W]e will ensure that 50 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2030, and 100 percent are zero-emission by 2035,” Harris’s agenda read at the time.

As vice president, Harris has backed Biden’s EV mandate, which will require that a majority of new cars produced and sold in the U.S. market are EVs or hybrids by 2032.

Such policies, though, are strongly opposed by a majority of Americans.

Last month, a Harvard-Harris poll revealed that 72 percent of registered voters said they oppose the Biden-Harris EV mandate — including 57 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of swing voters, and 83 percent of Republicans.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here

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