Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Fox News on Monday evening that the move by House Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump was “ill advised” and that they know that there are not the votes in the U.S. Senate to convict and remove the president.
Manchin made the remarks during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who asked Manchin whether there were the votes in the Senate to convict and remove Trump for allegedly inciting a riot that culminated in violence breaking out in the nation’s capital last week.
“I don’t see any of that, because there will be 48, still 48 Democrats, until we seat Warnock and Senator Ossoff,” Manchin said. “So, until that happens, you need 67 votes. I think, my arithmetic, that means we have 19 Republicans. I don’t see that. And I think the House should know that also. We have been trying to send that message over. They know the votes aren’t there. You would think that they would do that.”
“I think this is so ill-advised for Joe Biden to be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people, when we’re going to be so divided and fighting again. Let the judicial system do its job,” he continued. “And then, we’re a country of the rule of law. That’s the bedrock of who we are. Let that take its place. Let the investigations go on. Let the evidence come forth, and then we will go forward from there. There’s no rush to do this impeachment now. We can do it later if they think it’s necessary.”
Manchin’s remarks come after he has appeared to be changing his tune on some of the more controversial proposals in the Democrats’ agenda, including giving statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
During a CNN interview back in November, Manchin said the following about giving statehood to Washington, D.C.:
The D.C. statehood, I don’t see the need for the D.C. statehood with the type of services that we’re getting in D.C. right now. We have representation. They say no vote, you know, without representation. They have no voice, but they do. I’d have to hear more that, but right now I’m not convinced that’s the way to go.
Manchin said the following about giving statehood to Puerto Rico during the same interview:
Still not convinced that’s the way to go. And I would say that with that I’m absolutely agreeing to sit down and listen to the debate. I don’t believe that is the direction we should be going right now.
Yet, when asked during a CNN interview on Sunday about giving statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., Manchin signaled that he was still open to the idea, saying that wanted to see “all the facts” and that he was open “to see everything.”