The Biden campaign continued Sunday to engage in damage control on the Democrat’s debate pledge to “transition from the oil industry,” accusing President Trump of “trying to distort Joe Biden’s position.”
Biden campaign deputy manager Kate Bedingfield insisted that “people are not going to lose jobs under a Biden administration,” even though the former vice president’s clean-energy plan calls for net-zero U.S. carbon emissions by 2050.
“There is only one person in this country who Joe Biden thinks should lose his job, and that is Donald Trump,” Ms. Bedingfield said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Donald Trump is trying to distort Joe Biden’s position on this because he’s desperate to be running against anybody but Joe Biden. That’s been true from the start of this primary.”
Mr. Biden said during Thursday’s debate that he would “transition from the oil industry” because “the oil industry pollutes significantly.”
Mr. Trump responded by saying, “That’s a big statement,” and “Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania? Oklahoma?”
Ms. Bedingfield said Mr. Biden would end “subsidies for the oil industry.” During the debate, Mr. Trump pointed out that the solar and wind industries benefit from significant federal subsidies for renewable energy.
WATCH: @KBeds says Joe Biden “is not going to end the fossil fuel industry. He’s going to end subsidies for the oil industry.” #MTP
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 25, 2020
Bedingfield: “Donald Trump is trying to distort Joe Biden’s position on this because he’s desperate to be running against anybody but Joe Biden.” pic.twitter.com/0aREbCnSXM
“If you take a step back, Joe Biden has put forward an aggressive climate change plan that has been endorsed by climate groups but it’s also been endorsed by labor because it is also a jobs plan,” said Ms. Bedingfield.
“He believes we are not only going to create new jobs, we are going to maintain jobs,” she added. “People are not going to lose jobs under a Biden administration.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said Friday that Mr. Biden’s plan to “transition from the oil industry” would kill nearly 430,000 jobs in his state, while Mr. Biden has argued that his plan would create “millions” of jobs in the clean-energy sector and in retrofitting infrastructure.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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