Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday criticized former President Trump for “flip-flopping” on the issue of abortion, after the GOP presidential candidate similarly attacked his opponent, Vice President Harris, for changing her position on fracking.
“Let’s compare a situation where someone changed their position four years ago,” Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to Harris, “to Donald Trump, who’s changed his position four times on abortion in the last 48 hours.”
“That, to me, is a much more significant question, particularly as, when you’re talking about abortion, and you’re talking about a right and freedom of the American people, to be so pandering, wishy-washy, flip-flopping, you know, so disrespectful of the rights and freedoms of millions of American women and do all that in a single day,” Schiff continued.
“That’s the contrast here. And what’s more, Dana, that’s a values issue,” he added, addressing anchor Dana Bash. “That’s a values issue, when on something like the right to an abortion, you flip-flop every 15 minutes, that shows essentially, he has no values.”
Schiff’s remarks come as Trump has come under scrutiny in recent days for appearing to change his position on a Florida abortion ballot measure, which would guarantee the right to abortion “before viability,” about 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Trump signaled he opposed the measure in an interview with NBC News Thursday, saying, “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.”
His campaign, however, seemed to walk back those remarks, saying Trump was not actually stating how he would vote on the measure but “simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short.”
A day later, however, Trump went on Fox News and said he would vote in favor of the ballot initiative, apparently after facing conservative backlash to the earlier interview.
But Harris’s policy evolution has also made headlines in recent days, particularly after CNN’s Dana Bash pressed her on the change in her position on a fracking ban in her first sit-down interview of her campaign on Thursday.
Schiff, who is running for Senate in California, defended the one-time California senator against criticism about her evolving position on a fracking ban, saying Harris’s values have been consistent, echoing Harris’s explanation from the Thursday night interview.
“I favor banning fracking, and I strongly believe that the pathway to attacking climate change is to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels,” Schiff said when asked whether he’s disappointed that Harris now opposes a ban on fracking.
“But look, I’m not the vice president of the United States, and I do think that when you are representing the whole country, you have a different perspective,” he continued. “As the Vice President pointed out, her values, though, have remained consistent.”
Harris pledged not to ban fracking if elected president, in her Thursday interview, but said, “My values have not changed.” She pointed to her role in passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which she said has contributed to a boom in renewable-energy jobs.
“That tells me, from my experience as vice president, we can do it without banning fracking,” Harris said in the interview. “What I have seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, shot back against Schiff’s remarks in his interview, attacking Schiff’s character and using a nickname coined by the former president.
“Shifty Schiff has no right to talk about morals, considering he’s one of the most despicable and disgusting elected officials in Congress. He knows Comrade Kamala is the flip flopper because she’s the one who has actually lied about her positions from fracking to the border and to the Afghanistan debacle,” Cheung said, without evidence, in a statement.
“This is just more disgusting gaslighting from a disgusting person who has no decency and lacks the character to actually be president,” he continued. “Shame!”
Trump for years has taken aim at Schiff, who was the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial and who also served on the Jan. 6 select committee.
