With Congress divided evenly between the two parties, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has become one of the most powerful people in Washington. He recently told news outlets that the vote by House Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump was “ill-advised” and that they know that there are not enough votes in the U.S. Senate to convict and remove the president.
“I don’t see any of that, because there will be 48, still 48 Democrats, until we seat Warnock and Senator Ossoff,” Manchin told Fox News. “So until that happens, you need 67 votes. I think, my arithmetic, that means we have 19 Republicans. I don’t see that. And I think the House should know that also. We have been trying to send that message over. They know the votes aren’t there. You would think that they would do that.”
Manchin’s remarks come after he has appeared be changing his tune on some of the more controversial proposals in the Democrats’ agenda, including giving statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. They also came as more evidence was released by federal authorities that the assault on the capitol was planned days and weeks before President Trump spoke at the rally on Jan. 6. Democrats and media outlets continue to falsely claim that Trump’s words explicitly caused the riot at the Capitol.
During a CNN interview in November, Manchin said the following about giving statehood to Washington, D.C.: ”The D.C. statehood, I don’t see the need for the D.C. statehood with the type of services that we’re getting in D.C. right now. We have representation. They say no vote, you know, without representation. They have no voice, but they do. I’d have to hear more than that, but right now I’m not convinced that’s the way to go.”
Manchin said the following about giving statehood to Puerto Rico during the same interview: ”Still not convinced that’s the way to go. And I would say that with that I’m absolutely agreeing to sit down and listen to the debate. I don’t believe that is the direction we should be going right now.”
Yet when asked during a CNN interview on Sunday about giving statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., Manchin signaled that he was still open to the idea, saying that wanted to see “all the facts” and that he was open “to see everything.”
On Friday, the FBI released information concerning rioters, announcing that 100 had been arrested, including members of Black Lives Matter and other groups not connected to Trump supporters.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
