Former Vice President Kamala Harris has been the target of a false claim made by Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance. Vance falsely claimed that Harris voted to 'preserve' NAFTA, the trade deal that sent American jobs to Mexico. However, this claim is misleading and inaccurate [b3d82aec].
NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was negotiated and signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and pushed through Congress by Bill Clinton in 1993. At the time, Harris was a young prosecutor and would not have had any role in approving NAFTA. In fact, Harris has stated that she would not have voted for NAFTA and was a vocal opponent of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) [b3d82aec].
Vance's claim is based on Harris's vote against the approval of NAFTA's replacement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). However, Harris opposed the USMCA because she believed it did not go far enough in changing NAFTA. Her opposition was rooted in concerns about the environmental provisions and the failure to address climate change. It was not an attempt to 'preserve' NAFTA, as Vance falsely suggests [b3d82aec].
It is important to note that Vance's claim is misleading and uses ambiguous wording to mislead audiences. By suggesting that Harris voted to 'preserve' NAFTA, Vance creates a false narrative that does not align with the facts. Harris's position on trade deals, including NAFTA and the USMCA, has been consistent in her opposition to agreements that do not prioritize environmental concerns and address climate change [b3d82aec].