Critics accused Sen. Joe Manchin of destroying democracy after the West Virginia Democrat announced on “Fox News Sunday” that he could not vote for President Biden’s “mammoth” Build Back Better agenda.
"I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there," he told Fox News’s Bret Baier. "This is a no on this legislation."
Manchin said in a statement he would never be able to explain the vote to his constituents.
“I have always said, ‘If I can’t go back home and explain it, I can’t vote for it.’ Despite my best efforts, I cannot explain the sweeping Build Back Better Act in West Virginia and I cannot vote to move forward on this mammoth piece of legislation."
BLOW TO JOE: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he can't vote for a $2 trillion social safety net bill, dealing a potentially fatal blow to President Joe Biden’s signature legislation - @AP pic.twitter.com/FWSeVNOFDu
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2021
The news enraged the White House and led a number of critics to accuse the senator of destroying democracy.
Wow who knew that Joe Manchin could single-handedly destroy American Democracy, coincidentally by not supporting the Democrats' current policy agenda https://t.co/oDejjjegX5
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 19, 2021
I don’t remember marking my presidential ballot for Joe Manchin. He’s single handedly denying Americans Evironmental Protection, Pre-K, Child Care, Affordable Prescription Drugs. If he kills Voting Rights, he will deny US Democracy.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) December 19, 2021
What’s worse - that Manchin is killing the Biden legislative agenda, and perhaps the future of American democracy too, or that he wasted most of this year dragging this whole thing out to do it *and* wasted half of the time that Dems control Congress and the White House.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) December 19, 2021
When you and your family’s comfy personal future doesn’t depend on how much the massive numbers of poor people in your largely poor and struggling state suffer, or whether we remain a democracy, because you and your family are financially set, you might be @Sen_JoeManchin https://t.co/5GAXqSuj6c
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ?? (@JoyAnnReid) December 20, 2021