President Biden has conceded defeat in his efforts to pass legislation tackling the climate crisis while raising taxes on wealthy corporations and individuals. This comes after West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin walked away from negotiations over a scaled-back package of Biden’s tax and climate initiatives. Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders said Manchin was never serious about advancing Biden’s climate agenda. He spoke to ABC on Sunday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “You have people like Manchin — Sinema to a lesser degree — who are 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. And the problem was that we continued to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not. This is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires. In my humble opinion, you know, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families in West Virginia or America.”

Politico reports a number of executives recently maxed out their campaign contributions to Senator Joe Manchin, including banker Warren Stephens, hotel executive Tom Baltimore, Motorola CEO Greg Brown, Home Depot CEO Edward Decker, Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs, Gillette CEO James Kilts and Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots.