Dem Sen. Joe Manchin Claims Trump Repeatedly Urged Him to Switch Parties
Sen. Joe Manchin described President Donald Trump’s efforts to court him in a Politico “Off Message” podcast out Tuesday morning — which ranged from trying to sell the Democrat on Obamacare repeal to even attempting to persuade him to switch parties.
Manchin, a Democratic senator in red-state West Virginia, revealed that the president repeatedly pushed him to switch parties and become a Republican during “the transition last year and several times since.”
The West Virginian lawmaker said that he declined Trump’s advances, telling the president: “You need more Democrats like me, you don’t need Republicans.”
Trump also asked Manchin to support his attempts to repeal Obamacare, which were deeply unpopular amongst Democrats, as well as the GOP tax bill.
Manchin told Politico that he and a few other Democratic senators in red states could have worked with Republicans on tax legislation.
“I was an easy pickup. Very easy pickup,” Manchin said. “And a couple, two, three other Democrats would have been easy pickups, if they had just made an effort.”
Manchin said that he submitted a number of alternative tax bill proposals, developed with Wharton, the president’s alma mater, to the White House — but never heard back.
“It shows you where their values are. Their choices were that the corporations get the greatest cuts, the wealthiest get the greatest benefits, and on top of that, theirs is all permanent. The people that get the least amount and the unknown is, the people that get the temporary are the people that needed it the most,” Manchin explained. “So I said, “Guys, wait a minute. Aren’t we off-base a little bit here?’”
Listen to the interview here.
[image via screengrab]
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