Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin might not campaign for another six-year term in the Senate. Manchin said he was not certain he would campaign, Fox News reported.
“I have no idea,” he said during an interview to Hoppy Kercheval with WV MetroNews’ Talkline. “I’ll make a decision after [the] 2022 election, November, my term will be up in 2024.”
“I wouldn’t make a decision yet, I wouldn’t make it now,” he said. “Right now I’m trying to do everything I can to try to find some common sense and middle ground, and we all work together.”
Without Manchin, West Virginia could well go to a Republican governor, leaving Schumer without a senator he needs to keep him as majority leader.
Manchin also said the backlash over his objections to the BBB agenda would not affect his vote.
When asked, he said, “Heck no, it doesn’t. It’s not going to change me,” he said, though he did praise the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed this month.
He said it was “the most transformative bill that I’ve ever worked on, that can do something for everybody in our country.”
That’s up for debate.
He called for more bipartisanship and “common sense” during the interview.
“It’s all about being an American. It’s not about being a Democrat or Republican,: the senator said.
“The purpose of being in a political party is to try to find a solution that fits all the people, Democrats, Republicans, independents,” he said.
Last month the senator admitted that he had talked about leaving he Democrat Party.
He has resisted the BBB – Build Back Better — socialist agenda, much to the chagrin of Joe Biden and the cabal.
Manchin said he had talked about becoming an independent “if I’m an embarrassment to my Democrat colleagues, my caucus, the president being the leader of the Democratic Party.”
“I said, me being a moderate centrist Democrat, if that causes you a problem, let me know and I’d switch to be an independent. But I’d still be caucusing with Democrats,” he said. “That’s the only thing that was ever discussed. No one accepted that.”
Manchin spoke as Democrats struggled to reach agreement on a Biden social agenda that is likely to be reduced from $3.5 trillion to below $2 trillion, as a result of opposition from Democratic moderates including Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
Unfortunately, the bill is likely closer to $4 trillion since there is a lot of accounting gimmicks in the bill.
Manchin denied rumors he’s thinking of leaving the Democratic party, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that it’s “bullshit.”
“I can’t control rumors and it’s bullshit, bullshit spelled with a B, U, L, L, capital ‘B,’” Manchin told reporters while walking outside of the U.S. Capitol building.
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