MSNBC Hosts Revel in Manchin’s Potential Loss of Clout, Predict Warnock Win to Give Democrats 51 Senate Seats

MSNBC’s Jason Johnson and Joy Reid predicted Sen. Raphael Warnock will fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff.

On Monday, Johnson prematurely celebrated the win, which he pointed out would dilute the power of either Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) or Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the latter of whom he refused to refer to by name.

A Warnock victory would give Democrats a 51-seat majority and negate the power of one of the party’s moderates, should they decide to buck the party. Throughout the last two years, a defection from only one of them was required to stall the party’s agenda.

Simply put: a Walker loss would require Manchin and Sinema to coordinate to hold up business (assuming the rest of the caucus remains united).

On The ReidOut, Reid noted the dynamics of the race in Georgia.

“With 51 votes, Democrats got stalled on a lot of the progressive parts of Biden’s agenda,” she said. “He was able to get the bridges built and some things he couldn’t get past a certain senator from West Virginia. But with 51 votes, it really actually does kinda change the game in terms of Democrats’ ability to pass some of the rest of that agenda.”

Johnson responded by joining Reid in shading Manchin.

“Right, we can ignore Kyrsten Sinema or that senator from west Virginia,” he laughed. “One of the two will basically be blanked by this additional seat coming in, and that’s huge. It also matters for judges.”

Johnson argued with the ability to confirm judges, Biden will be able to halt Republicans from protecting “special interest.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.