Just three days before voters head to the polls, Joe Manchin and President Joe Biden clashed over the politics of coal, a poorly timed incident.
Biden pledged to shut down America's coal plants as offensive and disgusting. The White House press secretary responded quickly in an attempt to calm the situation.
The break between Biden and Manchin is bad news for Democrats who are in danger of losing their majority in congress. Next week, the party is likely to lose the House and is fighting to keep its majority in the Senate. Biden and Obama were in Pennsylvania Saturday to rally voters ahead of Election Day.
The challenge he would face in running for reelection as a Democrat is one of the reasons Manchin made the statement. Several potential candidates are quietly eyeing bids that could launch soon after the election, with Republicans eager to take on Manchin. If Manchin runs, it will be to the right of his own party and president.
Manchin stepped in on Saturday after Republicans criticized Biden for saying that "we're going to be shutting these plants down all across America" He thought Biden's comments were "outrageous and divorced from reality."
Manchin called for Biden to apologize for the comments he made about mine workers. His positions change on a daily basis.
Jean-Pierre said that Manchin is an advocate for his state and the hard-working men and women who live there.
The White House statement was not commented on by Manchin.
Democrats are trying to protect the Senate. John Fetterman is one of the Senate hopefuls. Fetterman and Ryan are competing to represent states with a history of coal production. Neither commented on Biden's comments on Saturday.
Joe Manchin sometimes stands up to Joe Biden on energy. Chris Hartline is a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Manchin is dependent on coal politics to survive in West Virginia. After Hillary Clinton made a comment about putting coal companies out of work, he threatened to withdraw his support from the campaign. He spent a year-and-a-half battling with his own party over the direction of the party.
After Manchin pulled the plug on the bill, there was a row with Biden. Jen Psaki, a former White House press secretary, said that the move was a "breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator's colleagues in the House and Senate."
The Inflation Reduction Act was much friendlier to oil, gas and coal production than most in the party initially thought. Improving fossil fuel production and modernizing the industry is key to national defense as Russia squeezes European allies over energy according to Manchin.
The signing of the bill by Manchin and Biden marked a high point for Democrats this summer after a year of legislative infighting. Manchin still hopes to pass an energy permitting reform package this year and has the support of Biden.
Manchin clapped back at the president when he said "no one is building new coal plants because they can't rely on it, even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of their lives." It will be a wind generation.
The United Mine Workers of America, which Manchin works with closely, disagreed with President Biden about shutting down coal-fired power.
Cecil Roberts said that the comments were reminiscent of the days of previous administrations when comments like these were all too common. It is easy to talk about ending an industry that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, but the reality is very different.
If anyone takes offense to Jean-Pierre Biden's comments, he regrets it.
We are on track to hit the highest production in our country's history next year, thanks to President Biden. She said that he was determined to make sure that the transition helped everyone. Nobody will be left behind.
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