西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦说他不会支持立法关注气候变化和税收变化，提到他对高通胀的担忧。

曼钦“故意破坏总统的议程，美国人民想要的，我们民主党核心小组大多数人想要的。这没什么新鲜的，"桑德斯，我-Vt。，告诉美国广播公司“本周”联合主播玛莎·拉达茨。“问题是我们继续和曼钦谈话，好像他是认真的。他不是。”

桑德斯说:“当曼钦破坏气候变化时，这是后代现在正在发生的事情。”“在西方，在世界各地，我们正面临着越来越多的热浪。你得考虑更多的洪水。这是对人类生存的威胁。”

此前，曼钦告诉其他民主党人，他不会投票——至少不会马上投票——支持一项应对气候变化的党派提案，一些立法者曾希望以脆弱的国会多数通过该提案。

相反，曼钦说，他将支持一项只关注处方药价格等医疗保健措施的法案。

自2020年重新夺回国会以来，民主党人一直试图通过一系列社会问题的重大立法，以兑现总统乔·拜登的竞选承诺，并在11月中期选举前给自己打气。但由于政治上的反对，Manchin和亚利桑那州的Kyrsten Sinema一再与其他人决裂，这在很大程度上破坏了参议院50-50的努力。

在“本周”节目中，桑德斯发泄说，最新的发展与去年的谈判相呼应，当时曼钦也放弃了一项更广泛的社会支出法案。

当被问及曼钦对通胀的担忧时，桑德斯告诉拉达茨，“曼钦已经谈论了一年的废话。”上个月，通胀率达到了9.1%的年增长率，为40年来的最高水平。“依我拙见，曼钦代表的是这个国家最富有的人，而不是西弗吉尼亚州或美国的工薪家庭。”

在上周的一份声明中，曼钦表示，他在反对气候和税收提案时考虑到了日常成本。

“像鸡肉、鸡蛋和午餐肉这样的商品已经涨到新高，而能源成本在6月份上涨了40%以上，最负担不起的人受到的影响最大。我们早就应该把国家放在第一位，结束这场通货膨胀危机，”他说。

在周日的露面中，桑德斯还对拜登最近的沙特之行表示遗憾，他说，总统不应该去，因为利雅得的人权记录，包括持不同政见者贾迈勒·哈肖吉(Jamal Khashoggi)被谋杀，他是《华盛顿邮报》的专栏作家和美国永久居民。

美国情报机构已评估沙特阿拉伯王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼(Mohammed bin Salman)批准了杀害Khashoggi的行为，沙特阿拉伯对此予以强烈否认。

“拜登应该去吗?”拉达茨问道。

“一个国家的领导人卷入了《华盛顿邮报》记者的谋杀案。我不认为这种类型的政府应该受到美国总统访问的奖励，”桑德斯说。(白宫表示，拜登上周会见本·萨勒曼时，立即提出了卡舒吉被杀的问题。)

桑德斯说:“如果这个国家相信什么，我们相信人权，我们相信民主。”“我只是不相信我们应该与这样的独裁政权保持友好关系。”

Raddatz向桑德斯施压，问拜登与本·萨勒曼的讨论在高油价下是否有意义，但桑德斯认为，围绕他所谓的企业贪婪采取的行动可能会在加油站产生更大的影响。

“讨论的核心是石油，拜登总统表示，沙特将在未来几周内采取行动。这会有所不同吗?这难道不能解释他为什么去吗?你会怎么做?”拉达茨问道。

他说:“我们必须看到的一个事实是，虽然美国人每加仑汽油要支付4.50美元、4.80美元，但石油公司上个季度的利润非常高。”。“我碰巧相信，我们必须告诉石油公司停止压榨美国人民。如果他们不这样做，我们应该对他们征收暴利税。”

Joe Manchin is 'intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda': Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday castigated Sen. Joe Manchin after the West Virginia Democrat saidhe wouldn’t support legislationfocused on climate change and tax changes, citing his concerns over high inflation.

Manchin is "intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda, what the American people want, what a majority of us in the Democratic caucus want. Nothing new about this," Sanders, I-Vt., told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "And the problem was that we continue to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not."

"When Manchin sabotages climate change, this is the future generations what's going on right now," Sanders said. "In the West, all over the world, we’re looking at significantly increased -- more and more heat waves. You’d have to look at more flooding. This is an existential threat to humanity."

The rebuke comes after Manchin told fellow Democrats that he wouldn't vote -- at least not right away -- for a party-line proposal to address climate change that some lawmakers had been hopeful to pass with their fragile congressional majority.

Instead, Manchin said, he would back a bill that focused solely on health care measures like prescription drug prices.

Since retaking Congress in 2020, Democrats have been trying to pass major legislation on a slate of social issues to make good on President Joe Biden's campaign promises and give themselves a boost before the November midterms. But Manchin -- and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema -- have repeatedly broken with the rest of the caucus because of political objections, largely derailing those efforts in the 50-50 Senate.

On "This Week," Sanders vented that the latest development echoed negotiations last year when Manchin also walked away from a broader social spending bill.

"Same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year," Sanders told Raddatz when asked about Manchin's worries over inflation, which hit an annual pace of 9.1 percent last month, a 40-year high. "In my humble opinion, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families of West Virginia or America."

In a statement last week, Manchin said he was thinking of everyday costs in opposing the climate and tax proposal.

"Items like chicken, eggs and lunchmeat have increased to new highs, while energy costs rose more than 40% in June with those that can least afford it suffering the most. It is past time we put our country first and end this inflation crisis," he said.

During his appearance Sunday, Sanders also lamented Biden's recent trip to Saudi Arabia, saying the president shouldn't have gone because of Riyadh's human rights record, including the murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S. permanent resident.

U.S. intelligencehas assessedthat Khashoggi's killing was approved by Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, which Saudi Arabia vehemently denies.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fist bumps President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022.

Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Royal Court via Reuters

"Should Biden have gone?" Raddatz asked.

"You have a leader of a country who was involved in the murder of a Washington Post journalist. I don't think that type of government should be rewarded with a visit by the president of the United States," Sanders said. (The White House says Biden immediately raised Khashoggi's killing when he met with bin Salman last week.)

"If this country believes in anything, we believe in human rights, we believe in democracy," Sanders said. "And I just don't believe that we should be maintaining a warm relationship with a dictatorship like that."

Raddatz pressed Sanders on whether Biden's discussions with bin Salman made sense in light of high gas prices, but Sanders argued that action around what he called corporate greed could make a bigger difference at the pump.

"At the heart of the discussions was oil, and President Biden said the Saudis would take action in the coming weeks. Could that make a difference, and doesn't that explain why he went? What would you have done?" Raddatz asked.

"One of the things we've got to look at is the fact that while Americans are paying $4.50, $4.80 for a gallon of gas, the oil company profits in the last quarter have been extraordinarily high," he said. "And I happen to believe that we've got to tell the oil companies to stop ripping off the American people. And if they don't, we should impose a windfall profits tax on them."