Sen. Manchin criticizes colleagues, says immigration deal fell apart ‘because of politics’

Geoff Bennett:

Now, right after Senate Republicans blocked that bipartisan border package, I spoke with West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to get his reaction.

Senator Joe Manchin, welcome to the "NewsHour."

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV):

Good to be with you, Geoff. Thank you for having me.

Geoff Bennett:

Sure.

I want to start with your assessment of what transpired in the Senate today, Republicans blocking the border security deal that the GOP initially said it wanted. What do you see as the impact and the implications of the unraveling of what would have been the most significant immigration law in decades?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Geoff, I just — I can't even describe, I have no description of what I witnessed today on the floor of the Senate.

The only thing I can tell you, it reaffirmed my decision not to run again, because I have totally come to the conclusion — they reaffirmed it today — you're not going to fix Washington with the political discourse and division that we have here in Washington. So I'm going to do everything I can going around the country trying to get people to understand that the pressure has to be put on.

It's about our country. It's not about you or the party and people that are running it. And people that are running that's worried about themselves or the party that they represent or the party they belong to, that should be immaterial concerning what the job you have to do, which is basically protecting and defending the Constitution and healing our country.

Geoff, 18,000 Border Patrol agents, 18,000 have supported this piece of legislation, not for political reasons. These are people that were totally opposed to Joe Biden's handling of the border since day one. They now have said this is the most transformative piece of legislation that they have seen that would secure our border.

And then, all of a sudden, because of politics, Geoff, it fell apart.

Geoff Bennett:

And at the moment, it appears emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region, all of that stands in limbo as well.

You serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Yes.

Geoff Bennett:

Absent action from Congress, is there any other way weapons and emergency aid can be delivered to Ukraine?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Well, we're trying everything humanly possible. And I would like to think that people can come to their senses.

Ukraine desperately needs our support. We need Ukraine to win this fight. We need them to stop Russia. They have been unbelievable what they have been able to do and the damage. And they have been able to show the vulnerabilities of Russia, which I think has been helpful when you see those bad actors we have around the world that would like to cohere around another movement.

And we have countries that we have foreign concerns, which is Russia, China, North Korea, Iran. And to give them any more validity and to show that Ukraine can do what they can by themselves, with the assistance of us, but fighting it themselves, and we're not going to be there for them?

Shame on anybody that would not be able to continue to support Ukraine to have a victorious outcome. Unbelievable.

Geoff Bennett:

I want to return to what you said about how this chaos on the Hill reaffirms your decision to not seek reelection.

Back in December, you said that you were launching a two-month winter tour to determine whether there's a national movement for a third-party ticket. It's been two months. What have you decided?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Well, I think I have said this, that the December — I mean, the Super Tuesday on March will tell you what you have.

Are we going to have what we have now? Have they moved and changed their positions any whatsoever? Has the Grand Old Party, can it become grand again? And can the Democratic Party become the responsible, sensible party that it once was? Can they come back, or are they going to stay in their respective corners, extreme left and extreme right, where you basically have a radical, if you will, radical positions that they're trying to mainstream?

They're weaponizing the political process in America. They're making people pick a side, and the other side — whatever side you pick, the other side's supposed to be your enemy, Geoff. Well, I can assure you, the other side is not my enemy. That's my colleague. We might have differences. We might be opponents on different types of subject matters, but we should always be working to strengthen and make our country better.

If you want to find out where the enemy is, I can show you where the enemy that wants to do us harm around the country — or around the world, but it's not fellow Americans. And we're allowing that to be weaponized. And we have to stop that.

Geoff Bennett:

The…

Sen. Joe Manchin:

And I have just said, it's not going to be done here. So I'm going to be talking. There's other good people, hopefully get more people involved, and let's see what happens.

Geoff Bennett:

The dynamics of the race likely won't change between now and Super Tuesday, will likely emerge with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

So what more are you waiting for?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Well, if that's exactly what we end up with, and we see that there is any type of an opening, if there's a third party that can truly be competitive and not be a spoiler, that's a whole 'nother condition. That's a whole 'nother scenario.

No one knows about that and who those people would be. I believe the country's ready for a person who might have been identified as a Democrat at one time in their life, a person who might be identified as a Republican one time in their life, different party affiliations at one time that aren't going to subscribe to the extremes of both parties and can come together as a team to run our country and put it back together, so we're — continue to be the great United States of America, and not let ourselves become the divided states of America.

We will be looking for that.

Geoff Bennett:

Would that candidate be you?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Could be me or many other people. Could be a lot of people. There's a lot of good people that have left this body because what they saw happen today, they couldn't take anymore. I can't either. It's ridiculous.

Geoff Bennett:

Let me ask you this, sir, because No Labels' own polling from last year shows that Donald Trump gains when a moderate independent candidate is included in the race. He gets a four-point — four-point gain.

Is there a way to be a third-party candidate without being a spoiler? History suggests there isn't.

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Well, I have never been a spoiler in my life, Geoff. I'm not going to start now. And I'm not going to handicap it one side or other be — any of that. I won't — I would never be involved in a movement such as that.

We have to see clear evidence that there's some other opportunity that we could help solidify our country, unite our country.

Geoff Bennett:

CNN reported days ago that privately you have been telling people that a Joe Biden health scare or a Donald Trump conviction could give you an opening to run as an independent. Is that the case?

Sen. Joe Manchin:

There's a lot of things that could give myself or many people. I just — I don't have a burning desire. And I have said that. I'm not out campaigning.

I will do whatever it takes and sacrifice anything I possibly could to save my country and protect my country and bring it together.

And I believe we are dangerously — and, after today's vote on the most dangerous thing that we have, a crisis we have facing us, which is the unsecured border, and we have a fix, the people that are opposed to the Democrat administration that caused the problem, but are willing to fix it today, and the Republicans who have identified the problem and we worked together and got a bill and a compromise Republican-Democrat bill, the border security bill that we have in front of us today.

And they walked away from it because of the politics? That's what's wrong. That's what we should be concerned about.

Geoff Bennett:

There are certainly Democrats who will hear you say that and say that's why you're needed in the Senate, that you are the only Democrat arguably who could win statewide across West Virginia and that, as Democrats face a tough election map for the Senate, to try to keep control of the Senate, they need you there.

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Well, I have said this, Geoff.

It's — I have been here 14 years. I have been in public service for 42 years. I have given everything I have to represent my great state and the beautiful people of West Virginia and to defend the Constitution. I have done everything I can. And I will continue. I have come to the conclusion it can't be fixed here.

The politics, the business of politics, the business of the Democrat Party, the business of the Republican Party, the amount of money comes in by just fighting for your own identity and your own party is not what we need for our country. But the business model is so profitable, they're not going to change, Geoff.

And unless the people demand changes, it's not going to happen.

Geoff Bennett:

That is Democratic Senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin.

Thank you for your time, sir.

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Thank you Geoff. Appreciate it very much.

Geoff Bennett:

Sure thing.

Sen. Joe Manchin:

Bye-bye.