Fact Check: No, Kamala Didn't Sue Exxon Like She Claimed
A major claim by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was proven totally false after a basic fact check revealed she did not sue oil giant ExxonMobil.
The California senator made the claim Wednesday during CNN’s brutally long climate forum, an opportunity for Democrats vying for their party’s nomination to expand on their own plans for the environment if given the powers of the presidency.
When asked by an audience member how she’d fight big oil businesses over the alleged harm they’ve caused the planet, Harris was adamant that her own form of justice would be served.
“They have to be held accountable,” Harris said. “And maybe this is the prosecutor in me. They have to be held accountable. These are bad behaviors.”
She accused these companies of causing harm and death in communities. After being asked by the CNN moderator if she would sue ExxonMobil, Harris dropped a bombshell.
“I have sued ExxonMobil,” she said with a laugh, garnering applause from the audience.
https://youtu.be/sbFyFv1u_vU?t=570
There’s only one little problem regarding what Harris said.
CNN’s own fact check demolished her claim of having sued ExxonMobil, showing it doesn’t have a shred of truth to it.
CNN found that Harris “did not file a lawsuit before she left the post to become a senator in 2017, and her successor as attorney general has also not done so.”
Although Harris has presented legal challenges to other energy companies, she never targeted ExxonMobil with a lawsuit.
“When CNN asked what Harris was referring to, campaign press secretary Ian Sams emailed us a 2016 article about her decision as attorney general to begin an investigation into whether ExxonMobil lied to the public and shareholders about its knowledge of the risks posed by climate change,” CNN reported.
But of course, an investigation is not the same thing as a lawsuit.
This is either an incredibly bold lie or a shocking oversight by the California senator.
Whatever the case may be, this falsehood does not reflect well on her, especially considering other missteps she’s made during her campaign.
Harris was taken to task in July over her seemingly overzealous prosecution of marijuana users, prompting her campaign to retaliate by calling statistics regarding the number of people she locked away a “lie,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.
This came months after she laughed and joked about her own personal marijuana use, thus making many people see her as a hypocrite.
These are not the first lies from Harris’ campaign, and they will likely not be the last.
Coming in at a distant fourth place in many polls, Harris’ strategy so far has won her nothing.
If she continues with these easily debunked lies, her presidential aspirations could be doomed.
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