Kamala Harris has u-turned on a proposed ban on plastic straws.
Speaking at a CNN town hall meeting in 2019, the Vice President said: “We do need to ban the plastic straws.”
However, her campaign has now said the Democratic nominee has changed her mind and “doesn’t support banning plastic straws.”
Some commentators have suggested the move may be intended to prevent further attacks from the Trump campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris
Reuters
A Harris campaign official told Axios: “She cast the tie-breaking vote on the most consequential legislation to combat climate change and create clean energy jobs in history, and as president, she is going to be focused on expanding on that progress.
“She joked even then about how crappy paper straws are and the need to come up with better eco-friendly alternatives.”
It comes as the Trump campaign has previously highlighted the policy. Senior adviser in the Trump campaign Jason Miller told NBC News: “Kamala Harris had a long, liberal, radical record in California well before she even became vice-president…I mean, heck, she wants to get rid of plastic straws, for goodness’ sake.”
A number of US cities have already banned single-use plastic straws, including Seattle, Washington DC, and Malibu. The UK and parts of the EU have also banned them.
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Harris has reversed her proposed ban on plastic straws
PA
Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris
Reuters
It comes as Harris has u-turned on several policies over the last few months of the campaign. The Vice President said in late August that she no longer wants to ban fracking, a position she held during the 2020 primary race.
The change of position is likely to increase her chances of winning the key swing state of Pennsylvania, a hotbed for oil and gas drilling.
She told CNN that she now believed it is possible to “grow and increase a thriving clean-energy economy without banning fracking.” The Democratic nominee insisted during the interview that her “values have not changed”, even if some of her policy ideas have.
Her team has said, via anonymous aides, that she no longer supports Medicare for All or mandatory gun buy-back programs, two policies which she called for during her 2020 campaign.
Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has endorsed Harris
Reuters
Meanwhile, Harris said the endorsements of her by Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz, a former US Representative, were “courageous” for putting country ahead of political party.
Cheney, who served as vice president under Republican George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, said: “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
Harris said: “I’m honored to have their endorsement…it’s okay, if not important, to put the country above party.”
Source Agencies
