Harris campaign says Dem nominee 'does not support' electric vehicle mandate in attempt to flip the script
The vice president had pushed for an electric vehicle mandate in the past
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Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign team claimed the Democratic nominee does not agree with an electric vehicle mandate despite her history on the topic.
In a "fact check" email, Harris campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa wrote that Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, would "undoubtedly lie" about things, like that "Harris wants to force every American to own an electric vehicle."
"FACT: Vice President Harris does not support an electric vehicle mandate," Moussa wrote.
"Donald Trump railed against the Inflation Reduction Act while the Biden-Harris administration oversaw the creation of tens of thousands of new, clean energy jobs in Michigan and provided ground-breaking subsidies and tax credits for electric vehicles."
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after touring the final assembly plant for New Flyer electric buses in St. Cloud, Minn., Feb. 9, 2023. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Despite the Harris campaign's attempt to flip the script, the vice president has long pushed for an electric vehicle mandate.
Stretching back to her Senate career, Harris was one of the original co-signers of Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Markey’s 2019 Green New Deal, which worked to establish a blueprint to shift the nation to 100% "clean energy" by 2040.
The measure failed in the Senate.
Vice President Kamala Harris receives a briefing on electric vehicle investments at the Brandywine Maintenance Facility in Brandywine, Md., Dec. 13, 2021. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
After the Biden-Harris ticket won the 2020 election, Harris continued spearheading climate change initiatives, most notably taking charge of the Clean School Bus program.
The EPA-backed program was created nearly three years ago as a provision under the Biden-Harris administration’s 2021 infrastructure bill and allocated $5 billion for the program.
The EPA has since made $1 billion in grants available to help deliver nearly 2,500 electric school buses to school districts across the nation.
Vice President Kamala Harris sits in the driver's seat of an electric bus while touring a production plant in Saint Cloud, Minn., Feb. 9, 2023. (Stephen Maturen/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Harris and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan were touted by the federal government as the point people for the program, but it has only delivered 60 battery-electric or low-emissions propane-fueled school buses, The Washington Free Beacon reported last month.
"Every school day, 25 million children ride our nation’s largest form of mass transit: the school bus. The vast majority of those buses run on diesel, exposing students, teachers and bus drivers to toxic air pollution," Harris said of the program earlier this year.
"Today, we are announcing nearly $1 billion to fund clean school buses across the nation. As part of our work to tackle the climate crisis, the historic funding we are announcing today is an investment in our children, their health and their education. It also strengthens our economy by investing in American manufacturing and America’s workforce."
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Aug. 20. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Harris was also charged with helping lead the Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan in December 2021 to ensure 50% of car sales were electric vehicles by 2030.
The Biden-Harris administration further cracked down on the plan this year with one of the most significant climate regulations in U.S. history. It would force half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 to be electric.
"Together, we’ve made historic progress. Hundreds of new expanded factories across the country. Hundreds of billions in private investment and thousands of good-paying union jobs. And we’ll meet my goal for 2030 and race forward in the years ahead," Biden said in March of the plan.
The $7.5 billion federal program, which was part of 2021’s infrastructure bill, aimed to install half a million EV charging stations across the nation but has only produced as many as eight federal charging stations as of May.
Hummer EVs on the production line at an electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit Nov. 17, 2021. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
As Democrats continue championing the frenzied electric vehicle push, former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has vowed to end the Biden administration’s "mandate" to increase the sales of electric vehicles.
"I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car," he said at the RNC in Milwaukee last month.
President Trump greets Elon Musk, left, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2017. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump again discussed electric vehicles in his interview with Tesla founder Elon Musk earlier this month. Musk’s Tesla is the nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.
Trump explained that Musk’s cars are "incredible," but that fossil fuels are deeply intertwined with even building EVs and that the U.S. needs to "drill, baby, drill."
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FOX Business reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Fox News' Kristen Altus and Eric Revell contributed to this report.