‘You Can Just Hear the Anger’: Morning Joe Breaks Down White House Sharply Accusing Manchin of Betrayal

Morning Joe focused on the Biden administration’s notable anger toward Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and his decision to torpedo the Build Back Better agenda.

With the Senate split between Democrats and Republicans, Manchin’s refusal to support the bill means it has been effectively killed after months of effort by his Democrat colleagues to get it through Congress. The development prompted White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to release a statement accusing Manchin of political backstabbing, betraying his word, and “a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.”

Morning Joe kicked off the week by acknowledging the White House’s unusually harsh tone from the statement, and Joe Scarborough wondered if that was a good idea when President Joe Biden still has to deal with a 50/50 Senate. David Ignatius figured that Manchin will continue being involved in Democrat Party negotiations, but he also realized the “personal affront” the Biden administration apparently felt from his decision.

“‘Manchin promised us. He goes on Fox and he breaks what we thought was the deal,'” Ignatius summarized. “You can just hear the anger in those comments.”

While Scarborough agreed Democrats feel “angry” and “betrayed” by Manchin, he assessed that the best tactic for Democrats would be for them to shake this off and move ahead to the next political endeavor. He went on to say “there’s always another deal” when negotiating with Manchin, and he doubted that chastisement from within his party will lead to anything productive.

I was quite taken [aback]. Again, not because of Manchin’s feelings, but just because of the reality of Washington, D.C. I was taken by those attacks and attacks by other Democrats…which seems to invite Manchin to become a Republican. Democrats think it can’t get worse. Oh, it can always get worse.

Jonathan Lemire agreed it was an “uncharacteristic” that the White House went after Manchin on “deeply personal” terms. He also said that Manchin’s decision to shoot down BBB on Fox News after his latest negotiations with Biden made it look like “salt in the wound” for the president.

Watch above, via MSNBC.