Fact Check: Kamala Harris Town Hall on CNN

CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN's Anderson Cooper at a town hall meeting in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening, where she took questions directly from persuaded 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 attend a CNN town hall.

Here's a fact check of some of Harris' comments:

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

Facts first: The claim has some merit, but it's worth explaining that Harris is referring to Trump's proposal to impose new tariffs if he returns to the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said he plans to impose a blanket tariff of either 10% or 20% on all imports into the U.S., as well as a tariff of more than 60% on all Chinese imports. He has also imposed a 100% or 200% tariff on cars made in Mexico or on products from companies that move production from the United States to Mexico.

Combined, a flat 20% tariff with a 60% tariff rate on goods made in China would equate to an annual tax increase of about $3,900 for a middle-income family, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal think tank.

If the 20 percent tariff were just 10 percent, 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 increase prices for families, but to a lesser extent. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated that the new tariffs 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.

By CNN's Katie Lobosco

In a back-and-forth with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “No, Anderson, I promised I wouldn't ban fracking” when she was running as the 2020 vice presidential candidate.

Facts first: That's wrong. Harris didn't make it personal During her only debate of 2020, the general election vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence, she clearly stated her position on fracking. Harris never explicitly stated I took a personal position on fracking during this debate.

Rather, she said that Joe Biden, then the leader of the Democratic Party, would not ban fracking if 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, Joe Biden will not ban fracking.”

When Harris expressed her own views on fracking earlier in the cycle during the 2019 Democratic presidential primary, she even went so far as to say, “I'm in favor of a ban on fracking, hands down.”

It made sense for Harris to look into Biden's plans at the time, since the president set government policy. But contrary to her claim on Wednesday, none of her comments on the 2020 debate made it clear that she personally held a different view on the issue than she did the year before.

By CNN's Daniel Dale and Ella Nilsen

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

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

Facts first: This claim is exaggerated. Accordingly a report for 2021 During Trump's presidency, nearly 52 miles of “new primary wall” and 33 miles of “new secondary wall” were constructed by US Customers and Border Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers. Additionally, more than 370 miles of broken or aging primary and secondary walls were replaced.

During his campaign and throughout his presidency, Trump promised to build a wall ranging from 1,000 miles to over 500 miles wide. Using the “new primary wall” numbers from the 2021 report, one could estimate that 5.2% of its 1,000-mile promise has been met, or 10.4% of its 500-mile goal has been achieved.

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

The entire U.S.-Mexico border is approximately 2,000 miles long. The 52 miles of the new main wall would make up 2.6% of that total length, but as CNN previously reported, Trump had promised to build more walls, not a new wall along the entire southern border.

By CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized her opponent, former President Donald Trump, for introducing policies that benefited the wealthy during his first term.

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

Facts first: This claim needs context. While the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Harris is referring to benefited the rich far more than others, it cut taxes for most people, according to the Nonpartisan Center for Tax Policy.

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

The Tax Policy Center took a look at who the bill would help most. It found that taxes would decrease on average for all income groups.

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

Nevertheless, it was expected that more than 60% of the benefits would go to those whose incomes are in the top 20%. It was expected that more than 40% of the benefits would go to the top 5%.

The center estimated that those earning between $500,000 and $1 million expected an average tax break of about $21,000, increasing their after-tax income by 4.3%. Those earning $1 million or more would benefit from an average tax break of about $70,000, increasing their after-tax income by 3.3%.

Only a little more than a quarter of the lowest-income households would see a tax cut. Your tax cut would average about $200. However, most would see little or no benefit.

By CNN's Tami Luhby