Manchin demands Biden apologize for 'outrageous' coal comments: 'Time he learn a lesson'

Sen. Joe Manchin Saturday demanded President Biden apologize for saying coal plants "all across America" will be shut down, in a scathing statement just days before crucial midterm elections. 

"President Biden’s comments are not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs," Manchin, D-W.Va., said. "Comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden and instead believes he does not understand the need to have an all in energy policy that would keep our nation totally energy independent and secure."

BIDEN SAYS COAL PLANTS ‘ALL ACROSS AMERICA’ WILL BE SHUT DOWN, REPLACED WITH WIND AND SOLAR

Manchin added: "It seems his positions change depending on the audience and the politics of the day. Politicizing our nation’s energy policies would only bring higher prices and more pain for the American people."

Biden Friday called coal plants too expensive to operate, and said renewable forms of energy will replace them. 

"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 the existence of the plant," Biden said. 

"So it's going to become a wind generation," Biden continued. "And all they're doing is it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on, we're going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power."

PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE FETTERMAN INSISTS HE IS ‘SIT TO SERVE’

Manchin, whose state has a long history with the coal industry, has often been critical of the Biden administration on energy policy. 

But Manchin's comments Saturday come at a remarkable time, just days before a critical midterm election in which Democrats and Republicans are in a toss-up battle for Senate control. 

"Let me be clear, this is something the President has never said to me," Manchin said of the Biden comments. "Being cavalier about the loss of coal jobs for men and women in West Virginia and across the country who literally put their lives on the line to help build and power this country is offensive and disgusting.

"The President owes these incredible workers an immediate and public apology and it is time he learn a lesson that his words matter and have consequences," Manchin said. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Fox Business' Andrew Miller and Chad Pergram contributed to this report. 

‘Egg All Over Their Face’: Major Wisconsin Newspaper Adds Correction To Hit Piece On Republican Governor Candidate

Wisconsin’s largest newspaper added a major correction to an article it published about the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate just days before voters in the Badger State head to the polls. 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story Thursday that claimed Michels Corporation, co-owned by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, employed no black “employees in management positions.” 

By Friday, the outlet had added a major top line correction to the story to note that the diversity “concerns” in question were not for the whole company, which employs about 8,000 people, but one subsidiary in Illinois. 

“An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that public documents showed Michels Corp. does not have Black employees in management positions. Company officials said after the initial publication of the story that the documents pertained only to one subsidiary of Michels Corp,” the outlet added to the top of the story. 

The headline was changed from “Michels Corp. does not have Black employees in management positions, according to public documents,” to “Lack of diversity at a Michels Corp. subsidiary raised Equal Employment Opportunity concerns for Illinois contract.”

According to the company, minorities or women actually make up about 17.3% of middle or upper management positions throughout the company. As conservative outlet Wisconsin Right Now pointed out, black people in various management positions can be found by searching LinkedIn. 

The diversity “concerns” were publicized by the Left-leaning SEIU Wisconsin State Council, a state lobbying group. 

A source close to the Michels campaign told The Daily Wire that the Journal Sentinel had “egg all over their face” thanks to the story and subsequent correction. 

“The Journal Sentinel took a hit from the SEIU and the Democrats and ran with it without a shred of scrutiny in spite of being given evidence that it wasn’t true. They rightfully have egg all over their face as a result. It’s no wonder trust in legacy media is reaching new lows every day,” the source said. 

It’s not the first time that the Journal Sentinel has faced criticism over its coverage of Michels. In a story published at the end of August, a headline declared that Michels, a Christian, donated to “anti-gay” and “anti-abortion” groups through his foundation. 

The story centered on Michel’s donations to crisis pregnancy centers as well as Christian churches that adhered to a biblical view of marriage and gender. 

“For four years, they turned a blind eye to the consequences of Evers’ many failures and are now all in as accomplices in his desperate campaign to demonize me, my company, my family, and now even our personal charitable giving,” Michels said at the time. 

Recent polling has shown Michels and incumbent Democrat Gov. Tony Evers tied, just ahead of Tuesday’s election. 

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