Joe Manchin Says What a Lot of Democrats Are Thinking

'I don't know where in the hell I belong'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2021 11:50 AM CDT
Joe Manchin Says What a Lot of Democrats Are Thinking
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks to the Economic Club on Tuesday in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Joe Manchin might as well have "Democratic holdout" made part of his official title, and the West Virginia senator acknowledged his outlier status in two different forums:

  • "I'm totally out of sync with 48 other Democrats," Manchin told reporters at a dinner Monday night, per the Washington Post. "I love them all. And I love all the Republicans. So I'm just trying to survive in a very, very, very divided Congress in a very divided country." Josh Lederman of NBC News first tweeted the comments.
  • On Tuesday, Manchin continued the theme in remarks at the Economic Club in DC, reports the Hill. "You think that having a D or an I or an R is going to change who I am?" he said. "I don't think the Rs would be any more happier with me than the Ds right now."
  • "I don't know where in the hell I belong," he said to laughter.

  • Manchin said he's asked whether he will switch parties pretty much every day, but he dismissed a recent report in Mother Jones last week that suggested he had a specific plan to do so if Democrats failed to cut President Biden's $3.5 trillion spending package in half. The wrangling on that legislation continues, but Democrats have indeed cut it by that much.
(More Joe Manchin stories.)

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