'Sabotaging The President': Bernie Attacks His Fellow Dem

By Charles Susswein | Monday, 18 July 2022 10:45 PM
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) condemned his colleague Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Sunday, blaming the centrist Democrat for "sabotaging" President Joe Biden's plan.

The offensive remarks came on ABC News's This Week, days after Manchin's reported reversal on tax and climate policies Democrats expected to pass.

"He has sabotaged the president's agenda," Sanders said of Manchin. "The problem was we continued to talk to Manchin like he was serious," he added later.

Manchin informed Democratic leadership on Thursday that he would not back tax increases on the wealthy or new clean energy spending as part of an economic agenda Democrats expected to weigh this summer, according to the Washington Post.

According to the Guardian, Manchin said in a radio interview that it was "not prudent" to pass a notable spending bill as inflation is "wreaking havoc" on people across the United States. "Inflation is absolutely killing many, many people. They can't buy gasoline. They have a hard time buying groceries. Everything they buy and consume for their daily lives is a hardship to them," Manchin said in a clip aired by host Martha Raddatz.

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Sanders, who slammed Manchin late last year for going against Biden's Build Back Better plan, complained how the senator from West Virginia has continued to be a thorn in the side of Democrats hoping to pass more ambitious policies.

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"Same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year," Sanders said about Manchin's comments regarding inflation. He added later, "In my humble opinion, you know, Manchin represents the very wealthiest people in this country, not working families in West Virginia or America."

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On one hand, Manchin’s readiness to buck his party’s orthodoxies has helped his political survival. He won re-election to a second full Senate term in 2018, just two years after President Trump carried his state by more than 40 points.

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However, Manchin’s actions have left many in his party confused about his willingness to derail their agenda. To his internal critics, he has single-handedly dropped their best chance in years to enact a comprehensive change.

“Manchin is not particularly concerned about President Biden succeeding. He’s not particularly concerned about the needs of working people,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told SiriusXM’s “Dean Obeidallah Show” on Friday.

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Manchin is powerful in part because of circumstance — in a 50-50 Senate, his party can pass almost nothing without him.

Here are five of the most dramatic examples of Manchin bucking the party line.

Manchin detonated many months of negotiations around climate change on Thursday.

By his own account, he told Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that it would not be “prudent” to move ahead.

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