(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., offered what may be a preview of the 2024 election by slamming Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for helping to greenlight a massive $740 billion tax-and-spend bill that will harm West Virginians.
The ad took Manchin to task for betraying his state in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which is likely to exacerbate the current Democrat-induced economic crisis as lower- and middle-class citizens suffer the brunt of record inflation and a recession brought on by Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Mooney’s ad outlined to the people of West Virginia the dangers of continuing to elect Joe Manchin, Axios reported.
Mooney, along with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, is one of the early frontrunners expected to challenge Manchin in a 2024 re-election bid that may put him among the most vulnerable toss-up seats in the U.S. Senate.
“West Virginians know we are living in a harsh economic reality and Sen. Joe Manchin and his Democrat colleagues have just accelerated our nation’s inflation crisis during a recession,” Mooney said in a statement sent via email from his campaign spokesman, Ryan Kelly.
“Democrats in Congress continue to push tax increases and government spending that will only make the impact of inflation worse. I strongly oppose this legislation,” he added.
Mooney also highlighted Manchin’s distance from the political interests of his constituents.
“While Donald Trump received 69% of the vote in West Virginia in the 2020 election, Joe Manchin outrageously voted twice to impeach him,” said the statement. “Once again, he has sold out the people of West Virginia by supporting the liberal Biden agenda.”
During a speech Saturday at the CPAC convention in Texas, former President Donald Trump warned that he would be directly involved in the campaign to oust the supposed yellow-dog Democrat.
Mooney’s recent primary race forced him into the same district with fellow Republican Rep. David McKinley, providing one of the first bellwether indicators of Trump’s continuing influence among the GOP’s conservative base.
Trump endorsed Mooney, who coasted to victory over the Manchin-endorsed McKinley.
During his election-night victory, Mooney issued an exclusive statement to Headline USA hinting at his future Senate ambitions.
“Joe Manchin has now opposed me two times and lost,” Mooney said. “Maybe we should make it 3-0,” he said.
