Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on Monday that he has invited West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to join the GOP, saying “one of the two parties actually likes you.”
Cruz shared the comments during a Fox News interview on Monday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Texas senator said he recently told Manchin, “Look, one of the two parties actually likes you,” according to the interview.
When asked about the possibility of Manchin switching from a Democrat to the Republican Party, Cruz offered an interesting response.
“A lot of folks ask, ‘Well, gosh, is Manchin going to become a Republican? I hope he does. I’ve asked him to. I think every Republican senator has made that case a dozen times to Joe,” Cruz said. The interview added:
“I will say I think it’s a tough hill for him to climb. He’s just culturally- he’s a Democrat. He’s been a Democrat his whole life and he’s really the godfather of Democrats in West Virginia. So I get why switching parties, that’s hard. That being said, if they’re nasty enough, the best thing that could happen is they could drive him over to the Republican Party and we would welcome him.”
Cruz’s words add to those of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who said last week, according to The Hill, “It would not surprise you to know that I’ve suggested for years it would be a great idea, representing a deep-red state like West Virginia, for him to come over to our side.”
McConnell did not expect Manchin to actually follow through on the party change, however.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he added.
In November, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee also encouraged Manchin to join his party.
“There is still plenty of time. He could still switch parties if he wanted to. I encourage him to do so,” Lee said during a Fox News interview.
“There’s no reason why he belongs with the party of inflation, why he belongs with the party of lawlessness, why he opted to remain with the party that’s harassing him and intimidating him and belittling him at every turn just so they can fundamentally remake the American economy and American society. Joe Manchin absolutely should leave the Democratic party and I look forward to embracing him when he joins our caucus,” the senator added.
In October, the liberal publication Mother Jones shared an exclusive report that claimed Manchin has offered to leave the Democrats, not to join Republicans, but to become an Independent.
“He told associates that he has a two-step plan for exiting the party. First, he would send a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, removing himself from the Democratic leadership of the Senate. (He is vice chairman of the Senate Democrats’ policy and communications committee.) Manchin hopes that would send a signal. He would then wait and see if that move had any impact on the negotiations. After about a week, he said, he would change his voter registration from Democrat to independent,” the report speculated.
Manchin soon denied the story, claiming, “It’s bulls***.”
Manchin denies story he’s considering leaving Democratic Party: “It’s bullshit,” he told me. He added: “I have no control of rumors.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 20, 2021