Kamala Harris Mocked for Claiming Values Haven't Changed Despite Policy Flip-Flops

Vice President Kamala Harris has faced widespread criticism for her recent claim that her "values have not changed" despite numerous policy shifts. Commentators have accused Harris of backtracking on her progressive positions in order to appeal to moderate voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris's first sit-down interview as a presidential candidate has sparked controversy, with critics mocking her claim that her "values have not changed" despite significant policy flip-flops.

In an interview with CNN, Harris was asked to explain her many major policy shifts, including her stance on the Green New Deal, border security, and fracking. Harris responded by asserting that her values have remained constant throughout her career.

Kamala Harris Mocked for Claiming Values Haven't Changed Despite Policy Flip-Flops

"I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed," Harris told CNN host Dana Bash. "You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed, and I have worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time. We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act."

Harris went on to defend her record on border security, claiming that her values have not changed despite her previous opposition to the Trump-era border wall. She also distanced herself from her past support for "Medicare for All" and semiautomatic rifle buybacks.

Kamala Harris Mocked for Claiming Values Haven't Changed Despite Policy Flip-Flops

Harris's claim that her values have remained unchanged has been met with skepticism from many commentators, who argue that her recent policy shifts are inconsistent with her progressive roots. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kans.) stated that "Kamala Harris' San Francisco progressive values have not, and will not ever change."

Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald echoed this sentiment, saying that "Kamala didn't even remotely pretend she was explaining why the things she pretended to believe when running in 2020 are now things she pretends she no longer believes."

Kamala Harris Mocked for Claiming Values Haven't Changed Despite Policy Flip-Flops

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Victor Joecks suggested that "When @KamalaHarris says, ‘My values have not changed,’ what she means is ‘I'm only pretending to moderate to win the election.’"

Former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes responded, "Wow. Kamala Harris says she stands by every single radical policy position she’s ever held."

Kamala Harris Mocked for Claiming Values Haven't Changed Despite Policy Flip-Flops

Conservative columnist T. Becket Adams jokingly parodied the interview: "Dana Bash: ‘Why have you [insert euphemism for flip-flop]? Is it because you are more wonderful now than you were then?’" he quipped. "Kamala Harris: ‘Time is a subject in which we believe we are the holders, holding time to events such that we know what time it is.’"

Other commentators focused more on the interview itself, arguing that it was a textbook case of a news personality offering leading questions to a candidate. Power the Future spokesman Larry Behrens noted that "It's the pathetic setup we all knew it would be."

Author and news contributor Andy McCarthy scorched the CNN interviewer, "In a courtroom, I'd object: Leading the witness!"

Washington Free Beacon investigative reporter Chuck Ross said, "Dana Bash poses a softball question to Harris about her shifting stance on issues, rather than directly pointing out and quoting her flip flops on border, fracking, etc."

In one salient example of Harris' policy flip-flops, a recent campaign ad featured the Trump-era border wall, the very same wall she previously condemned as "un-American."

Fracking is another prominent example, as Harris' campaign announced last month that the vice president did not support a ban on the oil extraction technique that enjoys broad support in battleground states like Pennsylvania. That position, however, is the opposite of her remarks as a primary candidate during a 2019 CNN town hall event, when Harris said there is "no question I’m in favor of banning fracking."

Harris has also distanced herself from "Medicare for All" and semiautomatic rifle buyback programs, after publicly touting both programs during her failed primary campaign during the 2020 cycle.

Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.