Manchin Slammed by Biden Supporters After Announcing Opposition to Neera Tanden: ‘Gratuitous, Mean Spirited, and Sexist Move’
Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) put the first Biden administration cabinet nominee in real political peril on Friday, announcing that he would not vote to confirm Neera Tanden as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Manchin cited Tanden’s “overtly partisan statements,” which mostly came in the form of caustic tweets, as his reason for opposing what would be the first South Asian women ever to hold the top OMB job.
JUST IN: Sen. Manchin says he opposes Neera Tanden’s nomination to lead OMB:
“I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of [OMB].” pic.twitter.com/szac37Xbq3
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) February 19, 2021
With the likelihood of any Senate Republicans supporting her appointment very slim, Manchin’s move could very likely sink her nomination in a chamber with an even partisan split of 50-50.
But Manchin’s logic failed to pass the smell test for many liberals and Biden supporters:
What is wrong with Manchin? A gratuitous, mean spirited and sexist move. Just appalling
— Jennifer ‘pro-reality’ Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 19, 2021
I am appalled by Joe Manchin voting against Neera Tanden for OMB, a committed progressive after he voted for Bill Barr and others. How about assessing her work, competence and vision instead the tone her tweets? Stop sinking good women because they are outspoken. https://t.co/h9n0Nv1Zgp
— Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) February 19, 2021
It’s entirely ridiculous that Manchin would oppose Neera Tanden’s nomination for this stated reason when he had no problem with the outright venomous partisanship of nominees like Jeff Sessions and Ric Grenell.
This is holding a woman of color to a much higher standard. Period. https://t.co/oQNnNN3ipv
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) February 19, 2021
This is straight-up misogyny.
Is @Sen_JoeManchin aware that this is the 21st century? https://t.co/fX2kem84bO
— Greg Olear (@gregolear) February 19, 2021
Other critics couldn’t help but contrast his objection to Tanden with his support with openly partisan Republicans, some of whom made comparable if not more incendiary remarks.
So, Republicans with a history of terrible, racist comments like Sessions and Grenell are good enough for the Manchin vote, but Neera Tanden, a Democrat, the first South Asian woman to possibly lead the OMB, is “toxic” and “detrimental.”
Whiteness remains undefeated.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) February 19, 2021
Among the Trump nominees Manchin voted to confirm, indifferent to their “overtly partisan statements”:
Jeff Sessions
Mike Pompeo
Bill Barr
Brett Kavanaugh
Ric Grenell (who was effectively a professional online troll for quite a while) https://t.co/67IxWo8JEg— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) February 19, 2021
Honestly curious about the standard that would lead a senator to vote to approve the nomination of Ric Grenell in 2018, and oppose the nomination of Neera Tanden today. https://t.co/uSNKJMxpXV
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) February 19, 2021
In 1996, Coretta Scott King wrote to Congress urging it not to confirm Jeff Sessions to a judgeship.
She wrote passionately about Sessions’ decades of harm to Black people. @Sen_JoeManchin thought nothing of confirming Sessions to be the highest law officer in the land,KNOWING
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) February 19, 2021
Oh man, I forgot about this.
So Manchin voted to confirm Sessions despite accusations of racism; Barr despite a history of cover-ups; Grenell the troll & conspiracist… but not Tanden?
Again, whatever you think of Tanden, how can anyone make any sense of this voting pattern? https://t.co/XmokAVlfjD
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 19, 2021
So the guy who voted in Kavanaugh and Sessions has voted to oppose Neera Tanden’s nomination? Sounds about right. #Manchin
— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) February 19, 2021
Jeff Sessions racist comments kept him from becoming a federal judge. Joe Manchin confirmed him to be Attorney General.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 19, 2021
Stares in “Kavanaugh…”https://t.co/y7uOk3X8yt
— Joy-Ann Pro-Democracy & Masks Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) February 19, 2021
Some political observers suggested internal Democratic power politics were at play, with Manchin asserting his independence to send a message to a Biden administration pushing a more ambitious, progressive agenda.
To be clear, I don’t think Manchin actually gives a fuck about Tanden’s tweets. They are just a convenient pretext for him to flex some muscle.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 19, 2021
To be clear, I don’t feel strongly about Tanden as OMB director. This is about a Senator from a red state with 1.7 million residents telling a POTUS from his own party that he can’t hire a qualified person because of their tweets.
— Joshua Holland (@JoshuaHol) February 19, 2021
Joe Manchin is going to hurt a lot of people to prove something to someone. What and who I really don’t know.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) February 19, 2021
Yeah, so Brett Kavanaugh, who worked with Ken Starr, yelled at Democratic Senators during his confirmation, not too partisan. But Neera is. I’ve defended Manchin a lot, as he’s from WV and I get he’s gonna be more conservative, but this is just flat out hypocrisy…
— Cliff Schecter (@cliffschecter) February 19, 2021
The world where Manchin maintains his brand back home by scuttling occasional nominees rather than killing multi-trillion dollar reconciliation bills is probably the best one most D’s can ask to live in
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) February 19, 2021
What Joe Manchin is doing is known as extortion. Down the road he should have to pay for his behavior. His power is not earned, and he is merely exploiting his Republican instincts (lack of conscience)! Democrats in WVA hold him in minimal high esteem, to state is nicely. https://t.co/fKUItqj5Nt
— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) February 19, 2021
Who in the Republican Party will take a stand against cancel culture and confirm Neera Tanden?
— Bill Scher (@billscher) February 19, 2021
But not everyone on the left was upset that the nomination of Tanden, who was a vicious Twitter critic of Bernie Sanders, might fail to be confirmed because of her mean Tweets.
This is one of those fights I have no sympathy for either combatant because either one is an obstacle to progressive policies. They deserve each other #Manchin #NeeraTandenhttps://t.co/teys0vPh45
— Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) February 19, 2021
It’s hilarious that in the whole Manchin/Neera thing, it seems Corporate Democrats’ very own bullshit Civility Culture may end the nomination of a Corporate Democrat. I mean, you gotta admit that’s pretty hilarious. pic.twitter.com/7Ufpi8560M
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) February 19, 2021
