Joe Manchin tears into Biden’s ‘disgusting and offensive’ claim he wants to shut down coal mines

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has torn up President Joe Biden’s claim that he wants to close coal mines across the country to replace them with wind and solar power plants.

The moderate called the comments “outrageous and disconnected from reality” and said “These kinds of comments are the reason the American people are losing faith in President Biden.”

Manchin’s sharp statement on Saturday suggesting Biden is changing his stance “depending on the public and politics of the day” comes just three days before the midterm elections, with Democrats trying to avoid heavy losses to Republicans.

“To be Cavalier about the loss of coal jobs for men and women in West Virginia and across the country who are literally risking their lives to help and empower this country is insulting and disgusting,” Manchin added. up.

“The President owes these incredible workers an immediate and public apology and it is a time for him to learn a lesson that his words matter and have consequences.”

DailyMail.com has contacted the White House for comment.

Biden’s comments that sparked Manchin’s outraged response came Friday at an event in Carlsbad, California, in his latest effort to draw voters to Democrats in Tuesday’s election.

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has torn up President Joe Biden’s claim that he wants to shut down coal plants across the country

Biden’s comments that sparked Manchin’s outraged response came Friday at an event in Carlsbad, California.

He discussed his climate policy, which is part of his government’s ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

“I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal-fired power station in America,” Biden said.

‘Guess? It cost them too much money. They can’t count. Nobody builds new coal plants because they can’t rely on them. Even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of the factory’s existence.

‘So it will be a wind generation. And all they’re doing is it’s going to save them a ton of money, and by using the same transmission line that they forwarded the coal-fired electricity to, we’re going to close these plants across America and have wind and solar power, also providing tax breaks to help families buy energy-efficient appliances, be it your refrigerator or your coffee maker, for solar panels on your home, weatherproofing your home—things that on average, experts say, save at least $500 a year for the average family. ‘

The Republican National Committee criticized the comments, saying: “Joe Biden is celebrating coal-fired workers losing their jobs.”

Biden added that it is “cheaper to generate electricity from wind and solar than from coal and oil.”

“Literally cheaper,” the president said. ‘No joke.’

A report from the Department of Energy in June found that 29,271 people had lost their jobs in the fossil fuel sector by 2021.

Manchin is a coal advocate and approximately 11,000 West Virginia residents work in the coal industry.

He struck a deal with Biden earlier this year to push through the Inflation Reduction Act, which was packed with climate initiatives.

Manchin and his Democratic colleague Kyrsten Sinema are Senate moderates who have presented roadblocks to Biden’s agenda.

Biden hands over the pen he used to hand over Democrats’ groundbreaking Climate Change and Healthcare Bill to Manchin at the White House in August

On Thursday, Manchin gave his mid-term pitch by pleading with Congress to address the nation’s “crippling debt” by reforming Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare and other programs he claims are “failing.”

He told a Fortune CEO conference that he would like the next Congress to work on a bipartisan rights reform to solve the programs that face “huge problems.”

“We can’t live with this crippling debt,” Manchin complained to Bloomberg. “If we can’t figure out how to deal with this country’s financial challenges, we’re all going to pay a price we can’t afford.”

Manchin fired the shot at Biden during his latest midterm campaign.

He will look for candidates in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York to try to reverse projections showing Republicans are taking control of Congress.

Friday night, he said he was confident Democrats could keep the Senate and that there was a “chance” to keep the House.