Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Tuesday for causing Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to reverse course and aid Democrats in “wasting trillions” and creating “disasters” for the American people.
In a scorching series of posts on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “When people ask, ‘What happened to Joe Manchin, why did he go off the rails?’ The answer is very simple—Mitch McConnell forced his hand by saying that Manchin was weak and ineffective and that he, McConnell, had him totally under control.”
The 45th president added, “Manchin couldn’t stand for that and turned strongly, not against the Republicans, but against McConnell, who he has always despised.”
The Democrat senator originally voted against Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill last year and declared it “dead,” preventing the administration from forcing Americans to foot the bill for trillions of dollars in spending on wasteful policies.
Because Manchin has repeatedly clashed with Democrat leadership, some political analysts have speculated that he could be considering leaving his party to join Republicans.
According to Newsweek, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future,” a book released by reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin, indicated that Manchin would be open to the idea of joining the Republican Party if McConnell was not leading Senate Republicans. However, Manchin has previously denied the possibility.
Despite his differences with Manchin, Trump argued, “The fact is, Joe Manchin should have been brought into the Republican Party long ago.” He added, “So sad for our Country that now we are wasting Trillions of Dollars on the Green New Deal Hoax, and other like disasters, that will lead to even higher inflation and ultimately, economic destruction.”
Since the 2020 election, Trump and McConnell have publicly disagreed about the direction of the Republican Party, the future of its leadership, and the policies it should concentrate on. Recently, Trump called McConnell a “pawn” for the Democrat Party due to his inability to stop the Biden administration from passing legislation that is harmful to the American people.