For the last year-and-a-half, the Democrats have controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. So why can’t they get anything done? In part thanks to two stubborn Democratic senators: Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who are both very popular with Republicans. The latter recently scotched yet another crucial bill, this one concerning climate change and tax loopholes. It came as no surprise to anyone paying attention, but one of his fellow senators was even more incensed than most.
Bernie Sanders went on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, and when host Martha Raddatz claimed Manchin had “abruptly pulled the plug” on the bill, he took umbrage with her choice of words.
“No, Martha, he didn’t abruptly,” Sanders shot back, interrupting her. “He didn’t abruptly do anything. He has sabotaged the president’s agenda. If you check the record, six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin, [Kyrsten] Sinema to a lesser degree, who are intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda, what the American people want, what a majority of us in the Democratic Caucus want. Nothing new about this.
“The problem was that we continued to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not,” he continued. “This is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires.”
When Raddatz quoted Manchin, who said he was concerned about inflation, Sanders gave a sarcastic, drawn-out, “Really? Is that right?”, calling it “the same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year.”
Sanders also talked about how Manchin’s state is one of the poorest in the country. “You ask the people of West Virginia if they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and eyeglasses. You ask the people of West Virginia whether we should demand that the wealthiest people and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes. Ask the people of West Virginia whether or not all people should have healthcare as a human right, like every other country on Earth, that’s what they will say,” he said. “In my humble opinion, Manchin represents the wealthiest people in this country, not working families in West Virginia or America.”
In the meantime, Manchin continues to insist he’s still a Democrat, not a DINO (Democrat in Name Only). He also unconvincingly claimed he was shocked that far right judges he helped elect to lifetime positions lied when they said they wouldn’t overturn Roe v. Wade.
You can watch Sanders go off on Manchin in the video above.
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/bernie-sanders-joe-manchin-intentionally-sabotaging-biden-agenda/