Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he would “certainly welcome” Senator Joe Manchin to join the Republican Party, one day after the West Virginia Democrat announced he will not support President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, effectively killing the bill.
Asked on the The Guy Benson Show whether he had an “inkling” of Manchin’s vote ahead of the announcement, McConnell said that he did not but lauded Manchin for performing “the single greatest favor” he could for the country.
“Not an inkling, but I hoped. Ironically, my wrap-up press conference at the end of the session last Thursday, I said the single greatest favor Joe Manchin could give the country is to kill this bill. That’s what the country needs, to see this bill killed. It is absolutely inappropriate and unnecessary at a time when we’re fighting inflation,” McConnell said.
“It was an exciting thing to hear,” the Kentucky Republican said. “It was a great shot in the arm for the country. I think it’s exactly what the country needed at this particular time.”
McConnell added that he has been “shocked at the vitriol” Manchin has received from his Democrat colleagues and the White House.
“And basically it seemed to me that they were calling Senator Manchin a liar,” he said. “I think that was not smart. This is a 50/50 Senate. It’s going to be 50/50 for another year, and believe me, this is not how I would handle a disappointing vote like that.”
“He doesn’t fit well over there, but that is a decision ultimately that he has to make. We certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined,” McConnell said.
Manchin on Monday dared Democrats to push him out of the party if they are unhappy with his views.
Asked on Hoppy Kercheval’s West Virginia radio show if he believes there is still a place for him in the Democratic party, Manchin replied: “I would like to hope that Democrats feel like I do. I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate.”
“Now if there are no Democrats like that, they ought to push me where they want me,” he added.
During the interview, Manchin said he had gotten “to the wit’s end” with the negotiation efforts, saying the White House knows “the real reason” things fell apart.
White House staff “drove some things and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is,” he said.
“The bottom line [is] I knew that we could not change, it was never going to change,” Manchin added.
Source: National Review
