Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) on Sunday, saying the centrist Democrat had effectively sabotaged President Joe Biden’s agenda after he torpedoed his party’s spending plans to address the growing threat of climate change. .
Sanders spoke with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz on Sunday, venting his fury at his colleague for bamboozling Democrats for months before abruptly walking out last week. The negotiations were widely seen as the last big chance for Democrats to pass legislation addressing carbon emissions and climate change before the midterm elections in November.
“If you look at the record, six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin … who are intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda, what the American people want, what most of us in the Democratic caucus want,” Sanders said. . . “The problem was that we kept talking to Manchin as if he was serious. He was not there.”
“When Manchin sabotages climate change, these are future generations what is happening right now,” he continued. “In the West, all over the world… This is an existential threat to humanity.”
Sanders’ comments came after Manchin told his party leaders he would not support any funding for climate or energy programs as part of a stripped-down economic package, upending months of negotiations and giving the White House a great defeat in his effort to pass. meaningful climate legislation. His vote is essential as Democrats have only a 50-50 majority in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker.
Democrat had spent months negotiating with Manchin, abandoning key elements of the initial $2 trillion Build Back Better Act that had been a main focus of Biden’s agenda.
Manchin’s camp has defended its position, saying it has not closed the door on negotiations and remains open to provisions that would lower prescription drug prices for seniors. Future decisions depend on next month’s inflation figures, his office added.
“Political headlines are worthless to the millions of Americans struggling to pay for food and gas as inflation soars to 9.1 percent,” a spokesman for the senator said Friday. “Senator Manchin believes it is time for leaders to put aside political agendas, reevaluate and adjust to the economic realities facing the country to avoid taking actions that add fuel to the fire of inflation.”
Despite those claims, the decision, by a conservative Democrat who has reaped millions of dollars from the coal industry, drew immediate fury.
“This is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires,” Sanders said Sunday, rejecting Manchin’s claims that he was more concerned about inflation.
“That’s the same nonsense Manchin has been talking about for a year,” the Vermont independent continued. “Manchin represents the wealthiest people in this country, not the working people of West Virginia or America.”
