Press Secretary Suggests We Didn't Hear Biden Say He's Shutting Down Coal Plants

(CNSNews.com) – There’s no mistaking what President Biden said on Friday about shutting down U.S. coal plants, although his press secretary has indicated otherwise.

“It seemed like there was some confusion on that,” Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday. “And so — but, you know, I want to say this: It was — some of you were there. It was — it was loud and hard to hear, I think — or maybe not exactly what — what was being said.”

Here’s what Biden said, as both the video and the White House transcript clearly reflect:

“Folks, it’s also now cheaper to generate electricity from wind and solar than it is from coal and oil. Literally cheaper. Not a joke. I was just — and so we can accommodate that transition.  I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America. Guess what? It cost them too much money. They can’t count.

“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 their existence of the plant. So it’s going to become a wind generation.

“And all they’re doing is — it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money, and they’re using the same transmission line that transmitted the coal-fired electric on.  We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar.”

On Monday, Jean-Pierre noted that she had issued a statement on Saturday, saying that Biden’s remarks on coal plants were “twisted to suggest a meaning that wasn’t intended.”

She said it again on Monday:

“But I spoke to this over the weekend. The President’s words, we believe, were twisted. And we were very clear about that. And anyone who knows Joe Biden knows he comes from a coal — a coal country, from Scranton, Pennsylvania.  His great-grandfather was a mining engineer, as you all know. 

“President Biden knows that the men and women of coal country built this nation, and he has spent his presidency fighting for coal communities so that they too can benefit from the energy — from the energy transition we’re in right now.

“Again, the reason why we put out that statement, to your — you asked me about the genesis — we believe his words were twisted, and we just wanted to make sure there was some clarity.”

From CNSNews - READ ORIGINAL

Some media, including videos, may only be available to view at the original.