Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) attacked members of her own party over the weekend, suggesting that they were racist because they do not support far-left measures that the party is pushing.
Waters made the remarks in reference to Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who oppose Democrats’ efforts to eliminate the filibuster so that they can ram through their partisan agenda.
“They have sent the signal. They have been clear about it. They don’t care about minorities. They don’t care about blacks. They don’t care about people in their own districts who they’re going to deny their voting rights and undermine their voting rights,” Waters said. “I must always be optimistic. But this is a very difficult time for Democrats.”
“We have two Democrats, Manchin and Sinema, and they are holding up the Democratic agenda. They have decided that they are going to stick with support of the filibuster, and they don’t care whether or not they undermine the rights of minorities and blacks in this country,” she continued.
Waters suggested that Democrats were powerless to do anything because of Republicans, even though Democrats control the White House and Congress.
“It’s not what Democrats need to do. We’re doing everything that can be done,” she claimed. “It’s what Republicans need to do. Why is it we don’t have one Republican, not one that will stand up for the voting rights for people in this country? And so I hear a lot of talk about our president. He’s fighting as hard as he can. I don’t know why people think that he can make Manchin and make Sinema do what is right.”
Democrat Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY) also slammed Manchin and Sinema during an interview with a far-left radio host, saying that “there must be consequences” for the two Senators not falling in line with Democrat President Joe Biden’s agenda.
“It’s as simple as that. The president calls you and you’re going to derail one of his top initiatives, our vision? There’s got to be consequences for this,” he said. “And they’re very precise. They fit each state, and each leader in very precise ways. And so I’m sure once the consequences are laid out for them there may be an opportunity for a meeting of the minds.”
Manchin and Sinema have both repeatedly stated their opposition to getting rid of the filibuster.
“There’s no need for me to restate my long-standing support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation,” Sinema said. “There’s no need for me to restate its role protecting our country from wild reversals in federal policy.”
“We need some good rules changes to make the place work better,” Manchin added. “But getting rid of the filibuster doesn’t make it work better.”
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