Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has broken his silence on a local radio show after sinking President Joe Biden’s radical Build Back Better spending bill.
Manchin slammed Biden, saying the president’s staff did some “absolutely inexcusable” things which made him vote no.
“This is not the president — this is staff,” Manchin said.
“They drove some things, and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable.
“They know what it is, and that’s it.
“They figured surely to God we can move one person.
“We surely can badger and beat one person up.
“Surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough that they’ll just say, ‘OK I’ll vote for anything.
“Well, guess what?
“I’m from West Virginia.
“I’m not from where they’re from and they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they’ll be submissive, period.
When asked if there’s a place for him in the Democratic Party, Manchin said: “I would like to hope there is still Democrats that I feel like I do.”
The senator then added a warning that things could change with him if that is no longer the case.
“I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,” he said.
“Now, if there’s no Democrats like that, then they have to push me wherever they want me.”
Ilhan Omar and many others in the Dem Party are furious Manchin.
On statewide WV radio, explaining his decision to buck BBB, Manchin says Biden staffers alienated him.
"They drove some things, and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is, and that's it," he says on @HoppyKercheval's MetroNews program.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 20, 2021
Manchin also said he'd been consistent for months in his dealings w/fellow Dems.
"They couldn't take away all the social reforms that they've had pent up for years," he said.
Manchin accused BBB backers of being "disingenuine," sunsetting social spending early to keep $$ down.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 20, 2021
Celebrity socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attacked Manchin for sinking the bill, saying:
“We, as always, are here to fight for this agenda.
“What matters most to us is that it gets done.
“But we cannot just shrug our shoulders and accept this as some Charlie Brown moment.
“Our entire democracy is on the line.
“So we need to get back in there & get this sh*t done. Period.
“We cannot accept no for an answer. Dem leadership – incl but not limited to the President himself and House Dem leadership – wrote a massive check on their credibility the night of the BIF vote in order to secure the votes they needed, *promising* passage of BBB.”
AOC’s fellow-far-left Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar also fired back, saying: “I mean, we all knew that Senator Manchin couldn’t be trusted.
“The excuses he just made, I think, are complete bullsh*t.
“It is really disheartening to hear him say that he has been trying to get there for the people of West Virginia because that’s a complete lie.
“The people of West Virginia would greatly benefit from their families having access to long-term elderly care and care for folks with disabilities.
“They would benefit from the expansion of the child tax credits.
“They will benefit from having access to pre-k.
“There are just so many things that, you know, the people of West Virginia desperately need.
“And we know that he is not working on behalf of their interests, and I really am just completely disappointed and disgusted by his reasoning.”
