On Election Day, Pete Buttigieg appeared on Fox and Friends, where he was asked by co-host Brian Kilmeade: “How much has the EV mandate hurt Kamala Harris' quest to be the next president?”
In response, Buttigieg accurately claimed that “the statement that there is an EV mandate is a lie,” concluding, “You admit, right, that you can buy a gas car if you want right now? Which means, by definition, there’s no mandate.”
Buttigieg went on to clarify the goals of the policies promoting electric vehicles: to reduce pollution from the transportation sector and be competitive with China in electric vehicle manufacturing. He reiterated, “If somebody wants an EV they can get it. And if somebody wants a gas car they can get it. But what we’re doing is we’re making sure more of those are built in the U.S.”
The passage of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act helped propel billions of dollars of investments in electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S., creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. For example, “Georgia has over $31 billion in investment supporting 38,700 jobs. Michigan and North Carolina have seen over $20 billion and $19 billion in investment, respectively, supporting 32,000 created and retained jobs in both states combined.”
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency established tailpipe emissions standards for the auto industry in a bid to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Right-wing media immediately misconstrued these efforts, falsely claiming the agency was attempting to take away gas-powered cars or forcing consumers to buy electric vehicles. Several media outlets issued fact checks showing that no such federal mandate exists.
Yet eight months later, and as voters head to the polls, Fox News continues to push this lie.
