Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) refused to confirm on Sunday whether he would back President Joe Biden if he runs for the White House again in 2024.
Manchin shared the remarks during an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“President Biden says he plans to run for re-election in 2024. You have not yet committed to supporting him in 2024. Do you think President Biden deserves a second term?” Tapper asked.
CNN's @jaketapper asks @Sen_JoeManchin whether he will support President Joe Biden for re-election in 2024. #CNNSOTU https://t.co/Ut9zsIOJuL
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 31, 2022
“Jake, I’m not getting involved in any election right now. 2022, 2024, I’m not speculating on it,” Manchin answered.
Manchin instead emphasized his goals of helping the people of West Virginia and the nation.
“President Biden is my president right now, and I’m going to work with him and his administration to the best of my ability to help the people in my state of West Virginia and this country. And we have agreements,” he said.
“We have respectful agreements where we respect each other, and we work through them. So, this is what people are upset about. Everything is about the next election,” he added.
Manchin is among a growing number of Democrats who have refused to say whether they will support Biden if he plans to run in 2024.
In June, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also brushed off the question of supporting Biden’s re-election.
“I think if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes,” she previously told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
On Thursday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) called for Biden to step aside and let someone else run for the Democratic nomination.
“I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up,” Phillips said.
Manchin went on to address the nation’s high inflation rates and said he’s focusing on formulating an energy policy to help Americans.
“This is about today’s inflation rates killing people. We have got to get the inflation rate down,” Manchin continued.
“We have got to have an energy policy that works for America. And we’re not going to raise taxes. But people should be paying their fair share, especially the largest corporations of America that have a valuation of $1 billion of value or greater. Can’t they pay at least 15% so we can move forward and be the leader of the world and the superpower we are?” he said.
Despite Manchin’s emphasis on not raising taxes, an analysis of the bill he recently supported claims Americans at nearly all levels will pay more if the legislation is passed.
.@Sen_JoeManchin tells @jaketapper that his bill will not raise taxes and will not exacerbate inflation, despite new findings saying otherwise from a Penn-Wharton analysis and the Joint Committee on Taxation. #CNNSOTU https://t.co/U6m7NnEuZL
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 31, 2022
“Most businesses and all corporations that I know pay 21%. So that’s not a tax increase; it is closing a loophole,” Manchin claimed.
Republican lawmakers believe Manchin is on the wrong track with the latest plan. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said on Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the move is bad policy.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey criticized a new climate, health care and tax package unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin last week, saying Sunday that Manchin was "taken to the cleaners" in the agreement. https://t.co/WWgfXNmlC1
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 31, 2022
“I think he got taken to the cleaners,” Toomey said. “He’s agreeing to all this bad policy, and return for which he’s been promised there is going to be some kind of pro-energy infrastructure bill sometime in the future.”