On Monday, Manchin told Fox News anchor Bret Baier that he would "commit" to voting against ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court. Manchin reiterated his message on Twitter, attacking progressive ideas including the "defund the police" movement.
"Defund the police? Defund, my butt," the senator wrote Wednesday evening. "I'm a proud West Virginia Democrat. We are the party of working men and women. We want to protect Americans' jobs & healthcare. We do not have some crazy socialist agenda, and we do not believe in defunding the police."
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That did not sit well with Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist, who fired back at Manchin with a photograph from President Trump's State of the Union address where the congresswoman is seen giving Manchin the death stare as he offered a standing ovation during the president's speech.
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“I guess she put the dagger stare on me,” Manchin commented, in reference to Ocasio-Cortez in an interview published Tuesday. He added: “I don’t know the young lady — I really don’t. I never met her. I’m understanding she’s not that active with her bills or in committee. She’s more active on Twitter than anything else.”
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Manchin's comments yet again brought attention to the ongoing feud between more progressive members and others within the Democratic Party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., similarly dismissed Ocasio-Cortez's influence last year when she told the Times that the New York congresswoman and the other three original Squad members "have their public whatever and their Twitter world."
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Her criticism followed the Squad's rejection of a massive border funding measure that received bipartisan support.
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"But they didn’t have any following," Pelosi added. "They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
After House Democrats saw what's been described as a disappointing showing in November, moderate Democratic lawmakers complained about the party embracing positions like "defund the police" and socialism.
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“We lost races we shouldn’t have lost," an animated Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., claimed during a caucus call after the election. "Defunding the police almost cost me my race because of an attack ad. Don’t say socialism ever again. We need to get back to basics.”
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House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., similarly said if “we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we're not going to win," his office confirmed.
But Ocasio-Cortez and her squadmate, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have suggested that staking out more progressive stances isn't an electoral liability.
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"We do not win by shrinking away from the cause of justice," she tweeted this month. "We win by organizing, meeting people where they are, and communicating a clear value set."
Ocasio-Cortez similarly hit back at former Sen. Claire McCaskill, a moderate Democrat after she suggested the party lost voters because of its stances on certain social issues.
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