Manchin: Biden Hasn’t Done Enough on Inflation, ‘There’s a Lot More We Can Do’ Like Increasing Energy Production

While speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the Biden administration hasn’t done enough to combat inflation and called for increasing U.S. energy production to combat high gas prices.

Fox Business Correspondent Hillary Vaughn asked, “And on gas prices, the president said, two days ago, we can’t do much to bring them down. Has he given up on trying to fix this problem?”

Manchin responded, “I hope not. We’re going to work hard. Basically, we’ve got to produce. We’ve got to get back in action. We’ve got to do everything that we can to have confidence that we’re going to produce the energy that we need in our country to defend [ourselves], keep ourselves strong, get these prices back down, and be able to defend our allies.”

CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju then asked, “Has the administration done enough to deal with inflation?” After Manchin said he’d issue a statement on the matter, Raju followed up, “But, I mean, are you satisfied with what they’ve done so far?”

Manchin answered, “No, I think there’s a lot more we can do. I really do. We have got to get back to the leasing process so people have stability, they understand that we’re going to be in this game for a while. We can walk and chew gum. That means you can basically provide the energy that the country needs — the horsepower you receive from fossil, you don’t receive that horsepower from renewables, not yet. We get hydrogen going, we get other things going…geothermal and all that, we can. We’re going to get there. But we’re not there yet. So, you’ve got to make sure you take care of what you have to take care of.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett