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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Right-wing media falsely claim that Kamala Harris wants to ban red meat

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Allison Fisher

Research contributions from Ilana Berger

Published

As part of the conservative campaign to brand Vice President Kamala Harris as the “most radical left-wing person ever to run for the presidency of the United States,” right-wing media are falsely claiming that she wants to ban red meat – a position that they have repeatedly tried to attach to Democrats.

The false claim that Harris wants to ban red meat is purportedly based on a comment she made about revising the food pyramid to encourage healthy eating habits during the Democratic primary in 2019.

  • Medical experts advocate for changing the dietary guidelines to encourage less red meat consumption – but Trump has attempted to falsely tie Kamala Harris to a ban

    • According to The New York Times, “meat and dairy, particularly from cows, have an outsize impact, with livestock accounting for around 14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases each year.” The report continues, “That’s roughly the same amount as the emissions from all the cars, trucks, airplanes and ships combined in the world today.” [The New York Times, 4/15/22]
    • In 2019, The Lancet reported that people in North America already consume six times more than the recommended amount of red meat. The New York Times noted, “The report took pains to say that it wasn’t trying to prescribe to people what to eat or how to eat. It laid out global targets for what constitutes a healthy diet, based on an average intake of 2,500 calories a day.” The recommendations became known as the “planetary health diet” and focused on both world health and planetary sustainability. CNN reported, “And it can prevent up to 11.6 million premature deaths without harming the planet.” [The New York Times, 1/16/19; CNN, 1/21/24]
    • During a September 2019 CNN climate town hall, then-Sen. Harris was asked whether she would support changes to dietary guidelines to reduce the consumption of red meat, in light of its impact on climate change. After acknowledging that she loves “a cheeseburger from time to time,” Harris responded by “expressing support for incentives rather than bans” and framed her stance around consumer education and the need to accurately measure the impact of food production on our health and environment. [CNN, 7/25/24, 9/4/19]
    • At a July 24 campaign rally in North Carolina, Trump falsely stated that “Kamala even wants to pass laws to outlaw red meat to stop climate change and she is, you know what that means? That means no more cows.” The rally was shown live on Fox during the 6 p.m. news hour and also aired live on right-wing cable networks Newsmax and One America News.  [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 7/24/24; Newsmax, 7/24/24; One America News, 7/24/24]
    • CNN, which labeled the claim that Harris supports a ban on red meat during Trump’s campaign speech as “false,” reported that “the Trump campaign provided two citations that did not substantiate it.” CNN wrote that the campaign shared “a YouTube video of Harris’ comments that was correctly titled ‘Kamala Harris Wants The Government To Create ‘Incentives’ For Americans to Eat Less Meat’ and an article headlined, ‘Flashback: Kamala Harris said she would support eating less meat if elected president.’” In 2020, after Harris was announced as Biden’s running mate, Trump’s YouTube account also shared the video clip of Harris discussing changes to the dietary guidelines. [CNN, 7/25/24; PolitiFact, 8/11/20]

  • Right-wing media amplify Trump’s false claim that Harris favors a ban on red meat

    • On X (formerly Twitter), a right-wing influencer known as “Insurrection Barbie” wrote: “Kamala Harris thinks the government should control what you eat and that they should ban red meat and enforce it.” [Twitter/X, 7/24/25]
    • Fox contributor Mollie Hemingway: “There are so many examples of her being so extreme on issues, particularly in states where it matters, whether it's destroying the energy industry, you know, making it so people can't eat meat. She has these radical views.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/25/24]
    • Pro-Trump influencer Joey Mannarino, who once posed as a Black woman to attack Harris on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: “Kamala Harris wants to ban red meat from consumption in America. That’s an actual policy she’s discussed. She’s never discussed banning Black meat, though, and we all know why.” [Twitter/X, 7/25/24; Raw Story, 7/22/24]
    • QAnon supporter and failed GOP congressional candidate Lavern Spicer: “Kamala wants to ban red meat. Girl try getting those votes in Texas!” [Twitter/X, 7/25/24; Media Matters, 1/7/20, 6/2/21]
    • The claim was repeated again on the July 26 edition of The Ingraham Angle by Fox contributor Jason Chaffetz, who stated: “She's the one that wants to get rid of meat.” Chaffetz repeated the claim on The Big Weekend Show on July 27, saying, “She wants to get rid of meat. She doesn’t think meat is good. So she’d get rid of that,” and again the following day on Fox & Friends Weekend. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/26/24; The Big Weekend Show, 7/27/24; Fox & Friends Weekend, 7/28/24]
    • Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth directly translated Harris’ support for changing the dietary guidelines to “get rid of red meat.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 7/27/24]

  • Fox News, in particular, has beat the drum that Democrats and “globalists” are coming for your hamburgers

    • When the Green New Deal resolution was introduced by Democrats in the House and Senate in 2019, right-wing media falsely insisted that the package included banning cows because of their contribution to the greenhouse gas methane. [Media Matters, 7/26/19]
    • In 2021, right-wing media spread a fake story that President Joe Biden wanted to ban hamburgers. Fox News ran a rare correction on its role in spreading the story. [Media Matters, 4/27/21, 4/26/21]
    • In 2022, Tucker Carlson aired a documentary on Fox Nation focused on the conspiracy theory that world leaders are trying to ban meat and replace it with insect protein. Others in the right-wing media also pushed this conspiracy: In July 2022, for example, “Great Reset” conspiracy theorist Peter Sweden got over 12,000 likes on a tweet saying, “In Belgium there are now talks about an ‘environment tax’ on meat. They want you to eat bugs and be happy. Are you enjoying The Great Reset?” Similarly, Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said that meat is a “symbol of freedom” that “globalists” want to ban during a 2022 interview with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk. [Fox Nation, Let Them Eat Bugs, 4/14/23; Media Matters, 11/08/22]