Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) discussed the actions of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) over the weekend, saying Manchin’s choices could have helped the Democratic Party.
On Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Cramer said, “…Chuck Schumer has people pulling and pushing and tugging from every possible direction. And I’m sure he’s wondering what direction to go. But I do know this, that Joe Manchin may have saved the reelection of two, three, four, possibly, Democratic senators who would have had to vote yes on BBB — Build Back Better — but would rather not have voted at all. They were awarded this opportunity to give it a pass for a year. And yet they just seem hell-bent on doing [it]…”
He added: “…in my mind, what’s such a great tragedy about it is that a once-great Democratic Party has become this bizarre socialist agenda where they seem to be putting all the chips on the table this year while they have control of the House, the Senate and the White House. And thank God for Joe Manchin and others like him, but especially Joe Manchin, who in trying to save America, in the process may very well save the Democratic Party.”
As The Daily Wire reported last week, “Republican senators are attempting to persuade Democratic moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) to swap parties and join the GOP amid his disagreements with President Joe Biden’s agenda.”
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) have made overt attempts recently to convince Manchin to become a Republican. If Manchin were to make the move, the GOP would take over as the majority party in the Senate,” The Daily Wire noted.
On December 19th, Manchin announced he was planning to vote against President Joe Biden’s mega social spending package — the Build Back Better Act — and his announcement was followed by outrage and attacks from the Left.
Manchin appeared on “Fox News Sunday” at the time and said, “this is a mammoth piece of legislation and I had my reservations from the beginning.”
“I’ve done everything humanly possible. And you know my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns,” Manchin said, going on to discuss inflation. “It’s real, it’s harming every West Virginian, it’s making it almost — difficult for them to continue to go to their jobs. The cost of gasoline, the cost of groceries, the cost of utility bills, all of these things are hitting in every aspect of their life and you start looking at — then you have the debt that we are carrying at $29 trillion, you have also the geopolitical unrest that we have. You have the COVID, the COVID variant, and that is wreaking havoc again, people are concerned.”
“…I’ve always said this, Bret: if I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it, and I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible, I can’t get there,” Manchin added.
Some have pointed out how the strategy by many Democrats to seemingly humiliate Manchin after his announcement could be ineffective at gaining his support in the long run.
Last week, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “Is there going to be a softer, I guess, approach … in dealing with Sen. Manchin & some of the other … Democrats in the party who have been very vocal about being disappointed in him. Is there sort of a shift in strategy since this all blew up over bullying?”
“Well, again, I wouldn’t characterize it that way, Jacqui,” Psaki began. “But I would tell you that Senator Manchin is somebody who has won many tough-fought fights in West Virginia. He comes proudly from a coal-mining family, he’s a pretty outspoken advocate for the things he believes in and the things he doesn’t — and I would doubt he’s a withering flower on the side of the road, so …”