Manchin Asked About Another Biden Nominee’s Tweets: ‘Nowhere Near What Neera Tanden’s Was’

Senator Joe Manchin addressed his opposition to Neera Tanden — which sunk her Senate confirmation — as he spoke with Fox News’ Bret Baier Tuesday about another Biden administration nominee.

Colin Kahl — picked by President Joe Biden to be under secretary of defense for policy — has been criticized by Republicans for tweets of his in the past few years. He was confronted about some of them during a recent hearing. Per Politico

In one tweet, Kahl said Republicans “debase themselves at the alter of Trump” and said the GOP is “the party of ethnic cleansing,” sharing a news story about senior GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas defending Trump’s decision to move troops out of northern Syria ahead of Turkey’s incursion there…

Kahl said he was “swept up” in the polarizing environment online during the Trump years.

“To state the obvious, the last few years have been pretty polarizing on social media. I’m sure there are times that I got swept up in that,” Kahl told [Senator Tom] Cotton. “There were a number of positions that president Trump took that I strongly opposed. I think the language that I used in opposing those was sometimes disrespectful, and for that I apologize.”

Given that Manchin cited partisan tweets in opposing Tanden, Baier asked Manchin if he will similarly oppose Kahl.

“I’ve seen some tweets, and they are concerning,” Manchin said. “We spoke about all those things. His tweeting is nowhere near what Neera Tanden’s was, and we spoke about that too. And I just said January 6th changed me.”

Baier read through some of Kahl’s tweets attacking Republicans. Manchin said he’s “not made a final decision” yet, and told Baier he has spoken with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

You can watch above, via Fox News.