Dem Infighting Goes Public: Manchin Blasts Ocasio-Cortez as 'More Active on Twitter Than Anything'
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is “is ready to do battle” with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other far-left members of his party, according to The New York Times.
In an interview with The Times published Monday, the moderate Manchin made it clear he opposes the progressives’ pet policies, including the Green New Deal, “Medicare for All” and defunding the police.
“We’re not going to defund the police, we’re not for the new green deal,” the senator told The Times.
“That’s not going to happen,” he continued. “We’re not for Medicare for All — we can’t even pay for Medicare for some.”
Manchin discussed his recent back-and-forth with Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.
“Defund the police? Defund, my butt,” he tweeted Nov. 11 as he shared a Washington Examiner article from an interview with him.
“I’m a proud West Virginia Democrat,” the senator said. “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.”
Ocasio-Cortez replied with a photo of herself glaring at him.
https://t.co/4D4LVOyYhc pic.twitter.com/MwNIc41Szj
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 12, 2020
“I guess she put the dagger stare on me,” Machin told The Times.
“I don’t know the young lady — I really don’t,” he said. “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.”
The Times said the senator’s comment “amounts to a sharp insult in a chamber where legislative prowess is prized.”
[firefly_poll]
Ocasio-Cortez spokeswoman Lauren Hitt countered Manchin’s claim, asserting the congresswoman “had submitted more amendments than 90 percent of other freshmen — including those promoting fair housing and a tear gas ban that passed the House — and had missed fewer votes than Mr. Manchin.”
The Examiner story that the senator shared on Twitter said he urged that Democrats not “get caught up in the Twitter world.”
“We are the party of the working men and women, and we forget how to talk about that in a meaningful way,” he told the outlet.
Manchin also opposes progressives’ efforts to pack the Supreme Court and end the filibuster.
“We’ve been tagged if you’ve got a D by your name, you must be for all the crazy stuff, and I’m not,” the senator said during a Nov. 9 appearance on Fox News.
“I really think that when you break the filibuster, you break the Senate, and I’m not going to be part of breaking the Senate, I can tell you that,” he said in the Examiner interview.
Manchin said the Founding Fathers intended for senators to “work in a bipartisan way.”
“You break the rules of the filibuster, the minority has nothing,” he said. “There’s no purpose whatsoever. You’re no different than a glorified House.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
