Sen. Joe Manchin Defends Inflation Reduction Act From ‘Lies’ On Fox News

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) called Fox News’ host Harris Faulkner claim that the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act would lead to tax increases for Americans who make $400,000 or less “lies.”

The conservative Democrat spoke in support of the bill after previously stonewalling Build Back Better that would have seen most of President Joe Biden passed into law.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) negotiated the new bill with Manchin alone.

Faulkner questioned Manchin’s secret negotiations on the bill.

“And if you think I’m going to roll over, I have been at this for 40 years,” Manchin shot back. “I have never ever, ever been pushed into doing something I didn’t think was right for my state or my country.”

“Let’s talk taxes,” Faulkner continued. “Another criticism is that this will raise taxes. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said this when asked about Biden’s position.”

“Let me tell you the bottom line on that, Harris. Do you want to know the bottom line, the Joint Committee on Taxation? That opinion was only written by my friends on the Republican side. It was not done by the whole Joint Committee,” Manchin stated.

He followed up by adding, “So, let’s be accurate what we’re doing here. The bottom line is, how in the world can you be raising taxes when all we’re saying is the wealthiest corporations in America, 55 of them, pay zero to help this great country of ours to defend ourselves?”

When asked if the new legislation be ineffective because of tax loopholes, Manchin responded, “We’re fixing that.”

The bill cleared Congress this week and is now awaiting Biden’s signature.