Manchin Says Senate Will Torpedo ‘Ill-Advised’ Effort to Impeach Trump: ‘They Know the Votes Aren’t There’

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Monday the Senate would vote against convicting President Donald Trump even if the House voted to impeach him.

“I don’t see any of that [happening],” Manchin said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. “You need 67 votes — I think by arithmetic, that means we [need] 19 Republicans. I don’t see that, and I think the House should know that also. We’ve been trying to send that message over. They know the votes aren’t there.

“I think this is so ill-advised, for Joe Biden to be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people when we’re going to be so divided and fighting again,” Manchin added.

The House is tentatively slated to vote Wednesday on Trump’s impeachment. Democrats hold a 10-seat majority in the chamber, and Republican leadership as of Tuesday had advised members to “vote their conscience,” making it likely that an impeachment charge will pass with at least several Republicans voting with Democrats. The Senate is set to take the issue up on Jan. 20.

Manchin pointed out that Democrats will have just 50 seats in the Senate after Georgia’s newly elected senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, are seated, and said his party would be better served by searching for more facts before attempting to impeach the president.

“Let the investigations go on,” Manchin said. “Let the evidence come forth. And then we’re go forth from there. There is no rush to do this impeachment now. We can do it later if they think it’s necessary.”

Watch above via Fox News.