Senator Joe Manchin (I-W.V.) likes to pretend he is a moderate, and while he talks tough, he always winds up siding with Democrats.
To that point, he just eviscerated Kamala Harris and touted Trump’s policies but said he would not support Trump for president.
Talking Points...
- Manchin questions how Harris will pay for her policies
- Manchin doubts Harris’ commitment, supports Trump policies
- Analysis
There are a lot of people on the right who like and support Manchin, but I am not one of them. I think he is a snake in the grass who looks out for number one. He will say whatever it takes to get people behind him, but he usually winds up siding with Democrats and going back on his word. Look back at how he vowed to block reconciliation and repeatedly backed Democrat funding bills that used reconciliation after Joe Biden took office.
Having said that, his comments about Harris’ agenda were rather interesting because he did not exactly express faith that Harris could deliver. When Manchin was asked what it would take for him to support Harris, he responded:
“I want to see if people recognize the debt that we’re carrying right now, how do you get your financial house in order, recognize there’s 35.4 trillion, unprecedented debt [more than] we’ve ever carried before.
“What we’re doing — no matter what you’re saying you want to do and all of these programs, you want to give so much for this and so much for that, new homes and businesses, What’s the bill? What’s it going to cost? Let’s be realistic. People want — people don’t live in this la la land. They have to worry about their finances every day.”
When Manchin was asked if he believes the policies that Harris is touting, many of which are a big swing away from Harris’ record, Manchin stated:
“…what you say and do are two different things.”
This feeds the narrative many are pushing that Harris is just saying whatever she needs to say at this point to get elected. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) actually made this point during a recent interview that blew up all over the internet. Manchin also expressed support for Donald Trump’s policies, but he said he could not endorse the former president in 2024. Manchin stated:
“If you can’t accept an orderly transfer of power, if you can’t basically stop or decry a[n] insurrection, that’s a problem for me. … I like a lot of his policies.”
When Manchin announced that he was leaving the Democrat Party, Republicans and conservatives were lining up, hoping he would join the GOP, but I was not one of them. I am not saying that he has to have blind loyalty to Trump or anyone, for that matter, as I don’t believe in blind loyalty to anyone.
I believe in integrity and honesty, which means sticking by your word when you promise to do something. you do it. Manchin is now out there talking about the debt, but keep in mind that he signed off on legislation that added trillions to the national debt, so he lives in a glass house on that front. You guys can form your own opinion on Manchin, but my two cents is that I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.
