Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the White House’s response to Manchin’s demands for an apology.
West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin demanded President Joe Biden apologize for promising Friday while on the campaign trail to shut down coal plants “all across America.”
His rebuke comes just one day after President Biden announced to a crowd in California that coal plants were too expensive to operate and would be replaced by wind and solar power.
“So it’s going to become a wind generation. And all they’re doing is it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on, we’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power, also providing tax credits to help families buy energy efficient appliances,” Biden stated according to Fox News.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Biden just went to California and announced he will shut down coal plants all across America
You hear that, PA? pic.twitter.com/8IqX3bkQ7x
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 4, 2022
“President Biden’s comments are not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs,” Manchin stated according to Fox News.
Manchin further slammed Biden for not understanding the “need to have an all in energy policy that would keep our nation totally energy independent and secure” and added that his comments are the reason the American people are losing trust in the Biden Administration. Manchin also accused Biden of politicizing the nation’s energy policies and argued that it “would only bring higher prices and more pain for the American people.” (RELATED: BEHRENS: Biden’s America-Last Energy Policy Takes Diesel Close To The ‘E” And With It Your Lifestyle)
“Being cavalier about the loss of coal jobs for men and women in West Virginia and across the country who literally put their lives on the line to help build and power this country is offensive and disgusting, Manchin stated as reported by Fox News. “The President owes these incredible workers an immediate and public apology and it is time he learn a lesson that his words matter and have consequences.”
The White House issued a statement in response to Biden’s remarks, claiming they had been “twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended.” Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed the president regretted any misunderstanding and recognized the role of the men and women of the coal industry in building the nation.
Manchin’s comments come as Democrat-run states and the Biden administration have touted a shift away from coal and other fossil fuels. Gavin Newsom’s California passed a law requiring all cars to be electric by 2035, despite strains on the electrical grid that led the state to request owners not to charge them.
Energy costs and gas prices have soared in recent months. The White House has blamed the conflict in Ukraine and inflation, while Republicans have blamed Biden’s energy policies for reducing American energy production.
