Chris Cuomo Clashes With Manchin on Push to Work With Republicans: ‘They Don’t Want It to Work!’
On Wednesday night, Chris Cuomo prefaced his interview with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) by playing two clips of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 11 years apart. The first, from 2010, showed McConnell claiming quite infamously, “Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term.”
The second was from earlier Wednesday, in which McConnell said of President Joe Biden, “One hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.”
And with that, Cuomo began his interview with Manchin by asking, “Do you think that your party is being set up again to be fooled again by Mitch McConnell?”
“I don’t think so,” said Manchin. “I really don’t.” He added that the only way American democracy survives is if the Senate has “minority input.”
Manchin cited last year’s bipartisan Covid-19 relief bills, as well as a recent hate crimes bill which passed the Senate overwhelmingly, as evidence that Democrats and Republicans can forge bipartisan legislative solutions. He expressed optimism that Biden’s infrastructure proposals could get similar bipartisan support.
At one point in the interview Manchin was about to tout Biden’s first 100 days, but Cuomo pointed out there had been a dearth of Republican support for his accomplishments.
Manchin: Joe Biden has got more done in a hundred days–
Cuomo: But not with them.
Manchin: –than I think any president in my time that I can recall.
Cuomo: Not with them.
Manchin: Basically, he got more done. He’s put a plan out there and he got more done.
Cuomo: But not with them!
Manchin: And he got it done, ok?
Cuomo: But not with them! Not with them.
Manchin: But you’ve heard Joe Biden. He wants it to work. It will work.
Cuomo: But they don’t want it to work! [McConnell] just told you, “I’m stopping the administration.” He just said it to you, senator.
Manchin: You don’t know.
Cuomo: He just said it!
Manchin: That was one person.
Cuomo: He’s the head.
Manchin: That’s one person.
Cuomo: He’s the leader!
Manchin: He’s not controlling all of that. I can assure you.
Cuomo told Manchin he agrees with him that Democrats should try to make good faith efforts to gain Republican support for Biden’s initiatives like infrastructure, but suggested they should be prepared to maneuver around Republican obstructionism, perhaps via budget reconciliation.
You can watch above, via CNN.
