Biden's stance on fracking resurfaces in 'Saturday Night Live' cold-open
'Joe Biden fracks in his free time. Joe Biden will frack you so good Pennsylvania,' says Maya Rudolph, playing Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
President Trump calls out Joe Biden for saying 'no fracking for months during the Democrat debates' then changing his tune.
The cold open for “Saturday Night Live” this weekend poked fun at Sen. Kamala Harris, who during the vice presidential debate last week reiterated that Democratic nominee Joe Biden will not ban fracking.
Playing Vice President Mike Pence, SNL’s Beck Bennett pivots to the topic, saying “enough about COVID, let’s focus on the two issues Americans do care about: swine flu and fracking.”
“If anyone should be talking about fracking, it’s my guy Joe Biden," Maya Rudolf, who plays Harris, said using a thick Philadelphia accent. "Joe Biden fracks in his free time. Joe Biden will frack you so good Pennsylvania, and while I personally wanted to ban fracking now that I know Pennsylvania loves it I just want to say this: Youz guys can bet on your Wawa cheesesteak hoagies and all the wooder [water] in the Schuylkill River that Joe Biden ain’t banning fracking. Go Iggles [Eagles].”
BIDEN-BACKED FRACKING POLICY COULD DERAIL AMERICA'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY
President Trump has repeatedly argued Biden, a Pennsylvania native and longtime Delaware senator, will ban fracking if he becomes president, but Biden has consistently said that's not part of his agenda.
Pennsylvania is a key swing state with a booming industry that employs the drilling method to extract oil and gas.
Harris, Biden’s running mate, advocated for a fracking ban during her unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, but she acknowledges her view is different from the former vice president's.
TRUMP HITS BIDEN ON FRACKING: 'PENNSYLVANIA WILL NEVER GO FOR HIM'
"I will repeat, and the American people know, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking," Harris said during the actual debate against Pence in Salt Lake City. "That is a fact."
Instead, Biden has said he would tighten restrictions on oil and gas development and prevent drilling on federal land, which makes up only a small portion of the nearly 1 million wells in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Land Management. Wells on private property make up approximately 90% of all of the country's wells, and Biden cannot unilaterally regulate them.
Pence slammed Harris for her record on fracking and conflated her opinion with Biden's.
“The both of you repeatedly committed to abolishing fossil fuel and banning fracking," Pence accused.
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Fox Business' Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.