Are Progress 2028 ads on Facebook authentic ads supporting Kamala Harris' presidential campaign? No, that's not true: These ads are not affiliated with the campaign or its supporters; instead, a conservative group paid for them to misrepresent her stance on controversial issues like gun buy-back programs and fracking. A Harris campaign aide told Lead Stories that Progress 2028's ads lie about her positions.
The claim appeared in an ad (archived here) that Progress 2028 published on Facebook on October 22, 2024. Its title said, "A national, mandatory buy-back program means fewer guns & fewer tragedies. Kamala Harris gets it! 👏" The ad read:
DID YOU KNOW?
UNDER KAMALA HARRIS'S LEADERSHIP, A NATIONWIDE GUN BUY-BACK PROGRAM WILL TAKE DANGEROUS WEAPONS OFF OUR STREETS. FEWER GUNS = FEWER TRAGEDIES.
LET'S GET READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE IN KAMALA'S BOLD PROGRESSIVE AGENDA.
LEARN ABOUT OUR PLAN FOR PROGRESS
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Oct 31 14:56:09 2024 UTC)
The Facebook ad links to a website for Progress 2028 (archived here), which presents itself as a progressive alternative to the conservative Project 2025 initiative (archived here) but is instead funded by a conservative group that supports Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The non-partisan campaign-finance tracking site OpenSecrets (archived here) says Progress 2028 is funded by a conservative "dark money" network meant to influence the 2024 election:
Building America's Future, the dark money group at the helm of the network, has steered money to a constellation of groups and initiatives boosting Trump's agenda and spreading messaging aimed at chipping away voters from Harris. The dark money group reportedly received over $100 million in funding from billionaire Elon Musk, along with other donors, the New York Times recently reported.
The newest effort to benefit from their largesse is Progress 2028. Building America's Future registered to use Progress 2028 as a fictitious name on Sept. 23 and the website was created three days later, OpenSecrets' analysis of corporate filings and DNS records found.
The Progress 2028 site appears to be created by IMGE LLC, a firm run by Republican political operatives that the New York Times described as the 'hidden hand' behind Building America's Future ...
Kamala Harris for President campaign
In an October 31, 2024, email, a Harris campaign aide wrote that the ads are a "lie to deceive voters."
Harris campaign vs. Progress 2028
The Kamala Harris for President website (archived here) spells out the campaign's stance on key issues. Lead Stories compared the false claims posted by Progress 2028 with the campaign's official positions.
Mandatory gun buy-back program
Progress 2028 says (emphasis theirs):
Reducing Gun Violence: Bold Steps for a Safer Future
Kamala Harris is dedicated to making communities safer by reducing the number of firearms in civilian hands through a fair and effective mandatory buy-back program. She believes that fewer guns, particularly dangerous assault weapons, mean safer neighborhoods, and this can be achieved through common-sense gun reform that respects the rights of responsible owners while reducing access to firearms.
Kamala will prioritize a nationwide buy-back program to get guns off the streets and ensure fairness to all participants. Her passion for gun control is unwavering--she's committed to taking bold actions that reduce gun violence and save lives, making schools, homes, and public spaces safer for everyone.
There's no mention of a gun buy-back program by the Harris campaign, mandatory or otherwise. The campaign website's Issues section says under "Ensure Safety And Justice For All":
Make Our Communities Safer From Gun Violence and Crime
... As President, she won't stop fighting so that Americans have the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities, and places of worship. She'll ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. She will also continue to invest in funding law enforcement, including the hiring and training of officers and people to support them, and will build upon proven gun violence prevention programs that have helped reduce violent crime throughout the country.
Fracking ban
Progress 2028 says (emphasis theirs):
Powering the Future: Safe, Clean, and Reliable Energy for All
Kamala Harris is leading the charge for a brighter, greener future. She wasn't just a supporter of the Green New Deal--she was the first 2020 presidential candidate to fully champion it. Her bold climate action goes back to her time as California's Attorney General, where she took a stand against fracking, even challenging the Obama Administration to stop it along the California coast. That's the kind of fearless leadership we need in the fight against climate change. But her vision doesn't stop there.
Kamala Harris is ready to take even bolder steps. She's committed to banning fracking, phasing out internal combustion engines, and rolling out the most progressive Green New Deal yet. The future of our planet depends on decisive action, and Kamala is ready to deliver.
The words frack or fracking are nowhere to be found on the Harris campaign website. A Google search (archived here) found no matches for either term.
As a California senator in 2019, Harris called for a ban on fracking, a method to extract natural gas or oil from shale, but as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, she said she's in favor of it, a Google News search (archived here) shows.
Read more
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims related to the 2024 U.S. general election and other elections are here. Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims surrounding Kamala Harris are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving Project 2025 can be found here.
