Manchin blames White House staff for doing 'inexcusable' things and Dems for badgering him

Rebel Democratic Senator Joe Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats on Monday, blaming them for his decision not to support President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better legislation. 

He accused Democrats of badgering him and beating ‘the living crap’ out of him as they tried to get his vote. And he said White House staff know the ‘real reason’ he said he wouldn’t vote for Biden’s $1.75 trillion package of social safety net programs.

‘They know the real reason what happened. They won’t tell you, and I’m not going to,’ Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval about Biden’s staff.

Manchin and Democrats have been playing the blame game since he announced on Fox News Sunday that he would vote ‘no’ on the bill, which was seen as a death knell to the legislation.

His comments came the same day the Huffington Post reported that Manchin, who opposed a provision in Biden’s bill extending the child tax credit, told several of his fellow Democrats that he thought parents would waste the money on drugs instead, citing two sources familiar with the senator’s comments. 

Manchin’s office did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.  

In the radio interview, the senator from West Virginia was careful not to blame President Biden, who had spoken personally to Manchin several times last week. But his strong words about Biden’s staff indicate relations are not good between him and the White House.   

‘It’s not the president,’ Manchin said. ‘It’s the staff. And they drove some things and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is. And that’s it.’

After Manchin’s shocking announcement he was against the bill, it was White House press secretary Jen Psaki who put out a statement slamming the senator. The president reportedly approved the harsh wording. 

Manchin also had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him. 

‘They figured surely to God we can move one person. Sure that we can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protestors to make that person uncomfortable enough they’ll just say ‘okay i’ll vote for anything’ just quit,’ he said, referencing protesters who swarmed his houseboat on the Potomac River and waited for him outside the Capitol building.

‘I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from and they can’t just beat the living crap out of people and think they’ll be submissive. Period,’ he added. 

Joe Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats, blaming them for his decision to vote 'no' on Biden's signature Build Back Better bill

Joe Manchin tore into White House staff and his fellow Democrats, blaming them for his decision to vote ‘no’ on Biden’s signature Build Back Better bill

After Manchin said he was a 'no' vote on Build Back Better, White House press secretary Jen Psaki put out a statement where she essentially called Manchin a 'liar'

After Manchin said he was a ‘no’ vote on Build Back Better, White House press secretary Jen Psaki put out a statement where she essentially called Manchin a ‘liar’

President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Monday after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware

President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Monday after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware 

Psaki, in her blistering statement, noted Manchin has been in negotiations with the administration up to the point he announced his opposition to the bill.  

She said Manchin’s comments on Fox ‘represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.’ 

Manchin on Monday shrugged off her statement, where she essentially called him a liar.  

‘I figured they’d come back strong,’ he said. 

He also hinted Democrats, many of whom harshly criticized him in the wake of his Sunday announcement, could drive him from the party.  

‘I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,’ Manchin said when asked if there’s still a place for him in the Democratic Party.

‘Now, if there’s no Democrats like that, then they have to push me wherever they want me,’ he added.

Manchin won re-election in 2018 by four points. He is up again in 2024. In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump beat Biden in the state by 39 points.  

The senator from West Virgina also chided Democrats for acting like they had a majority in the 50-50 Senate. In the evenly split body, Biden needed every Democratic vote to pass his signature legislation.  

‘This is a 50-50 Senate. You all are approaching legislation as if you had 55 or 60 senators or Democrats, and you can do whatever you want. Well, you know what, we’re all a little bit diverse. I said, I’m not a Washington Democrat,’ he said.

He also wouldn’t commit to accepting a scaled-back version of Biden’s social safety net program. 

Manchin was also said to be furious at a Thursday statement from the White House where Biden conceded his legislation was stalled in the Senate and named Manchin three times.

He hinted at his fury when reporters on Capitol Hill asked if he agreed with the statement.

‘That was his statement,’ he said Thursday of Biden. 

Manchin did not inform Biden of his decision to vote no. 

Less than 30 minutes before his announcement, one of his aides was told to give the White House and congressional leadership a heads up, Politico’s Playbook reported.   

‘We tried to head him off,’ a senior White House official said, claiming Manchin ‘refused to take a call from White House staff’ before the interview. 

Biden returned to the White House Monday morning after spending the weekend in Wilmington. He and Democratic leaders will be debating next steps, including the possiblity of retooling his signature legislation yet again to get Manchin’s vote. 

The Build Back Better plan already saw its topline number cut in half – much to the frustration of progressives in the party – in order to garner Manchin’s support. 

Senator Joe Manchin had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumerpersonally negotiated with him

Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Congressional Baseball Game where she called Joe Manchin to talk to him about Biden's congressional agenda

Senator Joe Manchin had tough words for Democratic leaders. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi had personally negotiated with him

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin effectively killed BBB on Sunday when he said: '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. This is a no'

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin effectively killed BBB on Sunday when he said: ‘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. This is a no’

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JEN PSAKI STATEMENT ON JOE MANCHIN REBUKE OF BBB

Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework ‘in good faith.’

On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities. While that framework was missing key priorities, we believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all. Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.

Senator Manchin claims that this change of position is related to inflation, but the think tank he often cites on Build Back Better—the Penn Wharton Budget Institute—issued a report less than 48 hours ago that noted the Build Back Better Act will have virtually no impact on inflation in the short term, and, in the long run, the policies it includes will ease inflationary pressures. Many leading economists with whom Senator Manchin frequently consults also support Build Back Better.

Build Back Better lowers costs that families pay. It will reduce what families pay for child care. It will reduce what they pay for prescription drugs. It will lower health care premiums. And it puts a tax cut in the pockets of families with kids. If someone is concerned about the impact that higher prices are having on families, this bill gives them a break.

Senator Manchin cited deficit concerns in his statement. But the plan is fully paid for, is the most fiscally responsible major bill that Congress has considered in years, and reduces the deficit in the long run. The Congressional Budget Office report that the Senator cites analyzed an unfunded extension of Build Back Better. That’s not what the President has proposed, not the bill the Senate would vote on, and not what the President would support. Senator Manchin knows that: The President has told him that repeatedly, including this week, face to face.

Likewise, Senator Manchin’s statement about the climate provisions in Build Back Better are wrong. Build Back Better will produce a job-creating clean energy future for this country—including West Virginia.

Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.

In the meantime, Senator Manchin will have to explain to those families paying $1,000 a month for insulin why they need to keep paying that, instead of $35 for that vital medicine. He will have to explain to the nearly two million women who would get the affordable day care they need to return to work why he opposes a plan to get them the help they need. Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone—we cannot.

We are proud of what we have gotten done in 2021: the American Rescue Plan, the fastest decrease in unemployment in U.S. history, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, over 200 million Americans vaccinated, schools reopened, the fastest rollout of vaccines to children anywhere in the world, and historic appointments to the Federal judiciary.

But we will not relent in the fight to help Americans with their child care, health care, prescription drug costs, and elder care—and to combat climate change. The fight for Build Back Better is too important to give up. We will find a way to move forward next year. 

Schumer announced Monday morning there will be a vote on Biden’s bill when the Senate returns in January. The House passed the legislation this month.

‘Senators should be aware that the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television,’ the Senate majority leader wrote in a letter to colleagues.

‘We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act – and we will keep voting on it until we get something done,’ Schumer added.

He said Democratis will hold a ‘virtual Special Caucus on the evening of Tuesday, December 21, the longest night of the year.’

It’s unclear whether or not Manchin will join that meeting.  

Last week, the Senate Democratic Leader announced he was pushing a vote on Build Back Better until after the New Year to give Manchin more time to negotiate with Biden.

The Senate ajourned on Friday.

On Sunday, Manchin went on Fox News and dropped his bombshell.

‘I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation,’ he said. 

‘I just can’t,’ he told Fox News Sunday host Bret Baier. ‘I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there.’

He added: ‘This is a no.’ 

Psaki said on Sunday the White House will continue to apply pressure on Manchin in hopes he will ‘again’ change his mind on the bill.

‘Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word,’ she said. 

‘Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced,’ she added.

‘Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework ‘in good faith.’

But Manchin told Fox:  ‘This is a mammoth piece of legislation and I had my reservations from the beginning when I heard about it five-and-a-half months ago.’   

Democrats and progressives were immediately furious at Manchin.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday railed against Manchin and the United States Senate, calling for reforms in the institution, which she described as an ‘old boys’ club,’ and demanding Manchin face ‘consequences’ for killing Biden’s  Build Back Better bill. 

She urged the president to use the power of his executive pen to take action on his $1.75 trillion legislation of social safety programs. 

‘It is unconscionable the way the Senate operates. It’s fundamentally undemocratic,’ she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

The Democratic congresswoman from New York, who has not ruled out challenging Senator Chuck Schumer in the 2022 Democratic primary, called for a ‘crackdown on the Senate which operates like an old boy’s club that has a couple of gals.’

She called on the Senate to hold a vote anyway on Biden’s signature legislation, which Schumer, as Senate leader, said on Monday morning he plans to do when the Senate comes back in session in January.  

Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her call for an end to the filibuster in the Senate. She also pushed Biden to make use of his executive power. 

‘It takes the president of the United States, who I believe needs to be more forceful on the filibuster. He needs to also lean, I believe, on his executive authority and say if you’re going to get in the way, we’re going to find other ways to do this.’

She added if senators want to block legislation, they should show up on the Senate floor and actually do it – not go on Fox News and threaten to do so. 

She was referencing Manchin’s interview on Fox News Sunday, where he made his shocking announcement he would not vote for Biden’s legislation, effectively killing it. In the 50-50 Senate, Biden needs every Democratic vote for it to pass. 

Many Democrats, including the White House, senators and Ocasio-Cortez and her liberal allies, reacted in anger to Manchin’s announcement, accusing him of ambushing the president with the news or misleading negotiators. 

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for reforms in the Senate, railing against it as an institution and calling it an 'old boys club'

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for reforms in the Senate, railing against it as an institution and calling it an ‘old boys club’

President Joe Biden spent the weekend in Wilmington and returned to the White House on Monday morning where he and advisers will discuss next steps on his legislation

President Joe Biden spent the weekend in Wilmington and returned to the White House on Monday morning where he and advisers will discuss next steps on his legislation

Ocasio-Cortez also slammed other Republican senators for blocking Biden’s nominations. GOP Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley had all placed holds on various nominees. 

‘This idea that we can just go on Fox News or go on any — and legislate through television, and say that we are going to threaten to block ambassadorships, or threaten a filibuster or threaten to vote no, have that result in actual institutional inaction is unacceptable,’ she said.

‘There are certain reforms that can be made within the culture of the Senate,’ she said. 

‘We have to break those cultural norms that the Senate is very entitled, very privileged and very protected. And say we are not going to allow that deference to membership just because of the self-importance of the institution.’

She also dismissed a question about whether Biden’s Build Back Better bill should be retooled in order to gain Manchin’s support.  

‘The bill has already been retrofitted to Joe Manchin’s liking. Let’s make that extremely clear,’ she said, citing the toned down climate provisions and lower Medicaid expansion. 

‘We need to really make it very clear that this bill, this framework was signed off by Joe Manchin. And so this is a Joe Manchin Build Back Better Act. And so this idea that we’re going to go back to the table and give him the pen again for a bill that has already has his ink all over makes very little sense,’ she added. 

Manchin also expressed concerns about the effect the bill would have on inflation, which is already at its highest rate in nearly forty years. He also questioned provision on paid family leave and the extension of the Child Tax Credit.

Ocasio-Cortez complained that the Democratic senator from West Virginia ‘strung’ Democrats along over the past year and slammed Manchin for announcing his opposition after the Senate recessed for the year on Friday. 

‘The Senate adjourned on Friday. And then he waited until everyone was on vacation to say no, I’m not going to vote for this. He waited until there was a moment of minimal pressure when he didn’t have to go back into the Senate, when all of this stuff was happening. This is a very calculated timing,’ she said. 

Senator Bernie Sanders was also furious with Manchin.

‘Well, I think he’s gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia,’ Sanders told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning. 

‘The American people have got to understand what is at stake,’ Sanders said on CNN. ‘For decades what Congress has been doing, giving tax breaks to the rich, not standing up to the drug companies.’  

‘The president of the United States and Democrats have been trying finally to address these issues,’ he added.

‘If Mr. Manchin doesn’t want to support us – well look, we’ve been dealing with Mr. Manchin for month after month after month,’ Sanders said. ‘But if he doesn’t have the courage to do the right thing for the working families of West Virginia and America, let him vote no in front of the whole world.’  

Senator Bernie Sanders immediately condemned Manchin's remarks on Sunday, telling CNN: 'Well, I think he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia'. He also called for a Senate vote so it forces Manchin to 'vote no in front of the whole world'

Senator Bernie Sanders immediately condemned Manchin’s remarks on Sunday, telling CNN: ‘Well, I think he’s gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia’. He also called for a Senate vote so it forces Manchin to ‘vote no in front of the whole world’

Representative Cori Bush

Representative Ilhan Omar

Progressives immediately slammed Manchin for coming out against the legislation, including ‘squad’ members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York (left), Cori Bush from Missouri (center) and Ilhan Omar (right)

Bush blasted Manchin in a Sunday tweet saying: 'Honestly, I'm frustrated with every Democrat who agreed to tie the fate of our most vulnerable communities to the corporatist ego of one Senator. No one should have backed out of our initial strategy that would have kept Build Back Better alive'

Bush blasted Manchin in a Sunday tweet and called on President Joe Biden to ‘fix this’

Omar called Manchin's reasons for killing the bill 'bulls**t' ¿ he noted 'inflation' as one reason

Omar called Manchin’s reasons for killing the bill ‘bulls**t’ – he noted ‘inflation’ as one reason

Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive Democrat from St. Louis, also blasted Manchin on Sunday, tweeting: ‘Honestly, I’m frustrated with every Democrat who agreed to tie the fate of our most vulnerable communities to the corporatist ego of one Senator.’

‘No one should have backed out of our initial strategy that would have kept Build Back Better alive.’ Bush added, calling out Biden by writing: ‘@POTUS, you need to fix this.’

‘If they forced folks to go on record with [the bipartisan infrastructure bill], they can force the Senate to go on record with BBB,’ she wrote in another tweet later on Sunday.

Representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota tweeted Sunday: ‘Let’s be clear: Manchin’s excuse is bulls**t,’

‘The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans,’ she added. ‘This is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure.’

Omar told MSNBC she knew Manchin ‘couldn’t be trusted.’

Rashida Tlaib, the progressive congresswoman from Michigan, slammed Manchin for his ‘betrayal of his constituents’ and urged the Senate to move ahead and hold the vote.

Representative Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, part of the ‘squad’, said she ‘absolutely’ agrees with bringing a vote on BBB to put Manchin on the record about his opposition – despite him already admitting on national television that he will not support the legislation.

‘To be clear, my lack and deficit of trust was about Senator Manchin,’ Pressley told CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday morning. ‘He has continued to move the goalposts. He has never negotiated in good faith. And he is obstructing the president’s agenda, 85 per cent of which is still left on the table.’

‘And in obstructing the president’s agenda, he is obstructing the people’s agenda,’ she added.

‘I was listening to his interview earlier today, and he said it’s a mammoth bill/ You’re right. It’s a mammoth bill to address mammoth hurt, to lower the cost of eldercare, child care, prescription drug costs, the child tax credit, which is so critical in combating child poverty.’

She accused Manchin of ‘obstructing the people’s agenda’. 

source: dailymail.co.uk