“No wonder why Joe Manchin is uncomfortable on the Democratic side. … He would be a lot more comfortable on our side,” McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said on Fox News, arguing that the Democratic Party has shifted sharply to the left.
But the Senate minority leader added that he didn’t think Manchin would become a Republican and hasn’t gotten any indication of such. “I don’t expect this to happen,” he said.
McConnell’s comments on Wednesday were not the first time he has publicly pressured Manchin, who represents West Virginia, to switch parties after the Democrat announced Sunday that he couldn’t support President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act, a key piece of the administration’s domestic agenda.
“I would like to hope that there are still Democrats that feel like I do. … I’m socially — I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,” he said. “Now, if there’s no Democrats like that, then they’ll have to push me wherever they want me.”
Manchin has been facing criticism from within his party over his announcement Sunday, particularly from the progressive wing of the party, whose members had predicted the move, and some moderate House Democrats, who were essentially hung out to dry after they voted in favor of the bill last month.
That position foreshadows grim prospects for Biden’s hopes of getting even a narrow plan through Congress.
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