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A Republican outside group is launching a new digital ad buy Wednesday targeting Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on the anniversary of major climate, health, and tax measure, tying the West Virginia Democrat to Joe Biden.
Biden signed the measure, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, into law last year and Manchin was a key player in crafting the bill — Biden even handed Manchin the pen he used to sign the bill at the signing ceremony.
That footage is featured in the new digital ad from One Nation, a non-profit tied to the GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund. The group is launching a six-figure ad buy against Manchin, according to information shared first with NBC News.
So far, One Nation has spent nearly $2.8 million on the airwaves, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact, largely on two TV other ads also noting Manchin's work on the Inflation Reduction Act.
“West Virginians are still struggling a year after President Biden signed Senator Joe Manchin’s Inflation Reduction Act into law,” Steven Law, One Nation's president and CEO, said in a statement to NBC News.
“One Nation will continue to educate West Virginia families about Senator Manchin’s law that even the Biden Administration admits could leave people ‘behind again,’” Law added, referring to a Biden administration official who told the New York Times that efforts to support fossil fuel workers were are at risk of "still leaving them behind again."
The new ad features a narrator saying that Manchin "played a pivotal role in writing President Biden’s green energy scheme."
"Now, 100,000 West Virginia jobs are at risk," the narrator says. "Sen. Manchin did a victory lap. He proudly took credit for passing the job-killing bill. President Biden even gave him the pen."
Manchin has since clashed with the Biden administration over the law, even threatening earlier this year to support repealing the law over how the administration was implementing its energy provisions. Manchin is also not expected to attend an event at the White House celebrating the anniversary.
The two-term senator has not yet said if he is running for a third Senate term, and he has also not ruled out a third-party presidential run on a ticket tied to the group No Labels.
Republicans view West Virginia as a top pickup opportunity as they look to take control of the Senate. West Virginia is one of three states with a Senate Democrat up for re-election next year that former President Donald Trump previously carried. Trump won West Virginia 39 percentage points in 2020.
There is a contested GOP primary in West Virginia, with Gov. Jim Justice facing GOP Rep. Alex Mooney.
Justice has support from some GOP leaders, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines. Law also said when Justice launched his campaign that the governor is "far and away the best candidate" to take on Manchin. Mooney has support from the conservative Club for Growth, which plans to spend millions on the primary.