Fact-checking Harris’ CNN town hall in Pennsylvania

By: CNN

Posted: Oct 24, 2024 11:58 AM EDT

Rebecca Wright/CNN via CNN Newsource

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper for a town hall in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, where she faced questions directly from persuadable and undecided voters less than two weeks before Americans head to the polls on Election Day. Former President Donald Trump was invited but declined to participate in a CNN town hall.

Here is a fact check of some of the remarks made by Harris:

Harris on Trump’s tariff plan

Vice President Kamala Harris said that former President Donald Trump has a plan to put in place a “national sales tax of at least 20% on everyday goods and necessities” that would cost American consumers an additional $4,000 a year.

Facts First: The claim is reasonable enough, but it’s worth explaining that Harris is referring to Trump’s proposal to implement new tariffs if he returns to the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said he plans to impose an across-the-board tariff of either 10% or 20% on every import coming into the US, as well as a tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports. He’s also floated a 100% or 200% tariff on cars made in Mexico or on products made by companies that move manufacturing from the US to Mexico.

Together, a 20% across-the-board tariff with a 60% tariff on Chinese-made goods would amount to about a $3,900 annual tax increase for a middle-income family, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal think tank.

If the 20% tariff was just 10%, as Trump sometimes suggests, the total impact for middle-class families could be $2,500 a year, according to CAP.

Separate studies estimate that the impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs would also raise prices for families, but by a lower amount. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated the new duties would cost the average middle-class household about $1,700 annually. And the Tax Policy Center said the impact could be $1,350 a year for middle-income households.

From CNN’s Katie Lobosco

Harris on her fracking record

In a back-and-forth with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “No, Anderson, I pledged that I would not ban fracking,” when she was campaigning as the vice presidential nominee in 2020.

Facts First: This is false. Harris did not make her personalposition on fracking clear during her only debate in 2020, the general election’s vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence. Harris never explicitly stated a personal position on fracking during that debate.

Rather, she said that Joe Biden, the head of the Democratic ticket at the time, would not ban fracking if he was elected president. Harris said during the 2020 vice presidential debate: “Joe Biden will not end fracking,” and “I will repeat, and the American people know, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking.”

When Harris did reference her own views on fracking earlier in the cycle during the Democratic presidential primary in 2019, she went so far as to say that “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

It made sense that Harris was addressing Biden’s plans at the time given that the president sets administration policy. But contrary to her claim on Wednesday, neither of her 2020 debate comments made clear that she personally held a different view on the subject than she had the year prior.

From CNN’s Daniel Dale and Ella Nilsen

Harris claims Trump only built 2% of border wall

At CNN’s town hall with Kamala Harris on Wednesday, the vice president claimed that only 2% of the US-Mexico border wall was built during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

“How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2%,” she said.

Facts First: This claim is exaggerated. According to a 2021 report from the US Customers and Border Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, nearly 52 miles of “new primary wall” and 33 miles of “new secondary wall” were built during the Trump presidency. More than 370 miles of broken-down or outdated primary and secondary wall was also replaced.

During his campaign and throughout his presidency, Trump pledged to build a wall with parameters evolving from 1,000 miles to over 500 miles. Using the “new primary wall” numbers from the 2021 report, one could estimate that 5.2% of his 1,000-mile promise was met or 10.4% of his 500-mile goal was completed.

Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, made a similar claim earlier this month at the CBS vice presidential debate.

The entire US-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles. The 52 miles of new primary wall would amount to 2.6% of that total length, but as CNN has previously reported, Trump had pledged to build more wall, not a new wall across the entire southern border.

From CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

Harris’ claim on Trump’s tax cuts

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed her opponent former President Donald Trump for putting in place policies that benefitted the wealthy during his first term.

“Donald Trump, when he was president, gave tax cuts to the richest, to billionaires and big corporations,” she said at CNN’s town hall.

Facts First:This claim needs context. While the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Harris is referencing, benefited the rich far more than others, it did reduce taxes for most people, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

The 2017 law made many changes to the tax code, including temporarily lowering many individual income tax rates, notably the top rate from 39.6% to 37% for the highest earners.

The Tax Policy Center took a look at whom the law would help the most. It found that taxes would decline, on average, for all income groups.

Middle-income taxpayers earning between about $49,000 and $86,000 were expected to see a tax cut of about $800, on average, or 1.4% of their after-tax income, according to the analysis.

Still, more than 60% of the benefits were expected to go to those whose incomes are in the top 20%. More than 40% of the benefits were expected to go to those in the top 5%.

Those making between $500,000 and $1 million were expected to get an average tax cut of about $21,000, lifting their after-tax incomes by 4.3%, according to the center’s estimates. Those who earn $1 million or more would enjoy an average tax cut of about $70,000, raising their after-tax incomes by 3.3%.

Only a little more than a quarter of those in the lowest-income households would see their taxes reduced. Their tax cut would be about $200, on average. However, most would see little or no benefit.

From CNN’s Tami Luhby