The hardcore progressive base may be pushing for the 2020 nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), but moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia says the open socialist would not be getting his vote.
Speaking with Neil Cavuto of Fox News on Wednesday, Manchin rejected Bernie Sanders’ claim that he would support “Medicare for All” before saying he would not vote for him in the 2020 election.
“I think Bernie brings a lot to the table,” said Manchin. “But it’s not practical where I come from. Bernie, we can’t even pay for ‘Medicare-for-some.’ I said, right now, the trust fund is going to go broke by 2026. … Now you want to expand it, and what happens?”
When Cavuto asked Manchin if he would vote for Bernie in 2020, Manchin replied, “Well, it wouldn’t be Bernie.”
Manchin, however, did not say he would be supporting President Trump. “Let’s just say I’m going to make decisions based on what’s best for my country and my state,” he said.
Joe Manchin became the subject of political conversations earlier this week when Bernie Sanders said that moderate Democrats like Manchin would vote for his much-maligned “Medicare for All” program if he were elected president, even though Manchin has already gone on record against such a proposal.
“Damn right they will [vote in favor of ‘Medicare-for-All’], you know why? Because they’re friends of mine,” Sanders told CNBC Editor-at-Large John Harwood.
“What happens right now is that your average politician sits around and he or she thinks — they say, ‘let’s see, if I do this I’m going to have the big money interest putting 30-second ads against me, so I better not do it,’” he continued. “But now they’re going to have to think ‘if I don’t support an agenda that works for working people, I’m going to have President Sanders come into my state and rally working class people.’ You know what? At the end of the day, the 1% is very powerful, no denying that. But the 99%, when they are organized and prepared to stand up and fight — they are far more powerful.”
“The fight right now is to get the American people to understand that we are spending twice as much per capita and that of course we can pay for it,” Sanders added. “We are paying it now in a very reactionary, regressive way — I want to pay for it in a progressive way.”
Sanders made this claim despite the fact that Manchin told The Hill back in June that American taxpayers would not be able to afford such a plan.
“We’re kind of conditioned to want what you want, when you want it. If you’re willing to pay for it, make that sacrifice, then by God, in a capitalist society, you should be able to buy it,” Manchin said. “And we’re going to take that away?”
Sen. Joe Manchin is also the only member of the Democratic Party to vote for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, though it has been debated whether or not he would have voted “Yes” had Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) voted “No,” which would have made him a tie-breaker.