Manchin Defends Support of Inflation Reduction Act — ‘Right Now, Inflation Is the Greatest Threat that We Have’

During a Tuesday appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) defended his support of the slimmed-down version of the so-called Build Back Better agenda — the Inflation Reduction Act.

The bill, which experts have said will do little to curb inflation, includes $369 billion aimed at climate spending.

Manchin said the bill was “a great bill” and noted that “inflation is the greatest threat that we have.”

“I always wanted to do something I could for my country, and this is all about my country,” Manchin outlined. “It’s not about my politics or someone else’s politics or my friends on the Republican side or my friends on the Democrat side or whoever is upset with me. It had nothing to do about any of us. This is about what can we do for the country.”

He continued, “And right now, inflation is the greatest threat that we have. It’s hurting every West Virginian, I can assure you, at the gas pump, at the food store, and their energy bills, and just their daily lives. And if we have a chance — and I’ve said this all along — if I ever had a chance to have an energy policy that was balanced and we could basically make sure we were producing more energy for what we have rather than going around the world asking other people to produce for us, shouldn’t we do that? That’s something we all wanted, and that’s what we got out of this. It’s a great bill.”

Manchin argued that the bill included the building and opening of domestic pipelines.

“We need more energy today, and we also need to invest in the energy of the future. This is a balanced approach,” he advised.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent