Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appeared on All In with Chris Hayes Thursday night and put Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) on blast.
Because Manchin opposes the Build Back Better bill’s child tax credit extension, the legislation was shelved this week and will not pass the Senate in 2021, if ever. The tax credit was one of several provisions Manchin has objected to during months-long intra-party negotiations. Sinema, too, has been a thorn in the sides of her fellow Democrats by opposing certain measures in earlier iterations of the bill. Like Manchin, she opposes abolishing the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold for beginning and ending debate on most bills.
Hayes asked Sanders what he thinks Manchin’s motives are.
“I guess there’s two ways to interpret it,” said Hayes. “One is, Joe Manchin is essentially acting in bad faith and kicking the can until it can die. And the other is, the fact he’s still talking, the fact he’s still engaging on details means that there’s an actual negotiation ongoing.”
The MSNBC host asked Sanders which interpretation best fits his understanding.
Sanders noted that there are 50 Republican senators “who are not prepared to do anything for the environment or working families.”
Then he turned his ire toward Manchin and – without naming her – Sinema, (but at this point it was clear who he was referring
You have 48 people in the Democratic caucus who are prepared, and a president of the United States prepared to think big. And you have two Democrats who, in my view, are kind of acting like Republicans. And to me, I respect other people’s points of view, but I do not respect the arrogance of any member of the senate who says, “You know what? I’m going to torpedo this entire bill, supported overwhelmingly by the American people…”You’ve got two people saying, “You know what? Hey, if you don’t do it my way – I don’t care what the president wants, I don’t care what 48 of my colleagues want – it’s my way or the highway.” And that, I regard as arrogance. You can disagree. Look, I have disagreements, as you well know. You fight for your ideas but you don’t say, “My way or the highway.” And that I feel very strongly about.
Watch above via MSNBC.