Yes, Joe Biden absolutely said he opposes fracking
Revisionism.
Related highlights:
NPR says it won’t cover Hunter Biden news because it's a 'waste' of time
Biden floats ‘bipartisan’ commission to help him pack the Supreme Court
—
Democratic nominee Joe Biden is lying.
On Thursday, during the final 2020 presidential debate, Biden denied ever saying he opposes fracking. But he absolutely did. To claim otherwise, as the former vice president did Thursday evening, is just a lie.
"He was against fracking," President Trump declared during the debate in Nashville, Tennessee. "He said it …until he got the nomination, went to Pennsylvania, then he said — but you know what, Pennsylvania? He'll be against it very soon because his party is totally against it."
Biden responded, "Fracking on federal land, I said, no fracking and/or oil on federal land.”
He added later, "I never said I oppose fracking.”
"You said it on tape," Trump shot back.
"Show the tape, put it on your website," the Democratic nominee demanded. "The fact of the matter is [Trump’s] flat lying.”
Well, OK. If Biden insists.
In July 2019, during the second Democratic primary debate, CNN’s Dana Bash asked the former vice president "would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?"
"No," Biden responded, "we would, we would work it out."
He added, "We would make sure it's eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those, either — any fossil fuel."
Later, during a campaign event on January 25, 2020, a voter asked Biden directly, “What about, say, stopping fracking?”
“Yes,” Biden said in a simple one-word response.
The voter continued, saying, “and stopping new pipeline infrastructure?”
“Yes,” Biden said again, “new pipelines…exactly.”
Then, during the final Democratic debate on March 15, Joe Biden said "no more subsidies for [the] fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period."
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont interjected later, saying, "I'm talking about stopping fracking, as soon as we possibly can. I’m talking about telling the fossil fuel industry that they are going to stop destroying this planet. No ifs, buts, and maybes about it...."
Biden interrupted: "So am I."
"Well, I'm not sure your proposal does that,” said the Vermont lawmaker.
Biden replied, "My plan takes on the fossil fuel industry and it unites the world," adding moments later, "No more, no new fracking."
That seems newsworthy, especially considering that all fracking is "new fracking" because the actual process of hydraulic fracturing takes a very short time.
For each of these incidents, the Biden campaign has responded by insisting the former vice president did not actually mean what he said. The Biden campaign has insisted on each occasion that its candidate merely misspoke and that his real position is that he opposes new permits for oil and gas on federal land and water.
Perhaps it is true that Biden’s actual position is not the one he has stated on multiple occasions. But it is still a falsehood for him to deny that he said he opposes fracking. He has said exactly that more than once. Whether Biden keeps misspeaking is another thing entirely. If the Democratic nominee wants to correct the record, then fine. Do that. But insisting he never said what he said, as he did Thursday evening, is not correcting the record. It is what Biden himself would call “malarkey.”